Dreams' Echoes
by JonathanKonopka
Summary: All Ganondorf had to do was capture the bearer of Courage before he could begin his quest. However, destiny now decrees that the descendants of Courage now consist of ten brothers, and the descendants of Wisdom, now consist of ten sisters. This can only be a royal headache for those involved. But if unity of the lineage breaks, perhaps a different legend will happen.
1. Chapter 1 - Time and Again

_(Cover art from Ser, Eria)_

 **Chapter 1**

 **Time and Again**

"Long ago, the King of Evil ruled the world. Oh yes, he did, and he brought destruction and chaos wherever he went. There was no-one who did not feel sadness and loss, for every day they awoke, they had to face the emptiness of defeat, the lashing of whips, the bondage of chains, and the labour of enslavement. Far and wide did the Evil King rule, for there was nothing left to conquer; the world was his. He forged a mighty empire of darkness, ruled with never-ending hatred and despair. But that Evil King is gone, his empire is lost... For the legend lives on, that the descendants of courage stop him, time and again, for this is the cycle, time and again. Time, and again. Fire burns in the hearts of all heroes, a fiery light that will scare away the blackness, for even the smallest flame burns the brightest within darkness. So it is spoken. So shall it be."

Her voice spoke stories that always put them to sleep at night, but then again, it wasn't hard putting them to sleep either. She walked around the bedroom, checking the four beds in each corner to make sure the boys were asleep, she having left the window open to allow the cool breeze and moonlight in. She tiptoed to the window, moonlight shining upon her, revealing a young woman in her early twenties, who had shoulder-length bright blonde hair and sleepy blue eyes. She wore a blue nightgown and slippers, the breeze chilling her a little, causing her to shiver and cross her arms for a moment with lifted shoulders.

The young woman put her hands on the window frame, the back of her right hand possessing an imprint of the Triforce glimmering in the moonlight, and she closed the window, but left it open just a little, staring at the big full moon as dark clouds slowly streaked across it. Outside the window, she heard the rustling plants and grasses, the wind chimes, the swaying branches of the fruit trees in their backyard, and behind it all, was that dark silence looming in the distant forest. It always seemed that there were shapes of scary things amidst the bushes and trees, as if something lied in wait under the shadows, staring back with nothing but faces of shadows. She closed the drapes, and then heard a muffled moan, and looked to the left.

"Why'd you cwose it?" One of the boys softly squeaked while yawning, popping his face out from under the covers and lifting his head, right hand rubbing his eyes and the back of it imprinted with the Triforce, the other hand placed upon the blankets over him; he was the one sleeping in the corner of his bed.

"Shh..." The young woman whispered smiling, then looked back out the window for a moment, "It's a little open, I don't want it to get too cold in here. We've got big days ahead, we need to prepare for the winter as you know, lots of work tomorrow, so get some sleep."

"Aww, big work again?" The boy mumbled quietly with disappointment, letting his head sink back into the pillows, and he yawned again, stretching his legs, the outline beneath the blankets showing he was much shorter than his brothers.

"Mhm, big work again," the lass replied, and the gently sat on the bed so that she could tuck the boy in the covers, hearing him quietly giggle sleepily, "bedbugs!" she said quietly, leaning over the boy and tickling him with her fingernails.

"Don't do that!" The boy whispered in protest, unable to hold back his chuckling, writhing under the covers like a stretching cat, and upon hearing the next boy muffle something, the motherly girl stopped for fear she'd wake up half the room.

"Goodnight, cutie." She whispered softly, scratching the boy's belly with her nails, hearing him sleepily chuckle, then turn onto his shoulder so that he faced the wall, something he often did, and he huffed and seemed to want to just sleep.

Yawning herself, the lass then stood up, head and shoulders low and sore, and tiptoed across the bedroom, stopping at the doorway, where she turned her head.

"Aww, they're so cute sleeping together, maybe I worked them too hard today..." She said to herself, closing the door quietly, hearing it creak only a little, and then she silently tiptoed to her own tiny bedroom, being extra careful to stay silent.

At sunrise, a rooster crowed from a fence post, signalling the coming sun. As the sun arose from the horizon, its rays beamed upon a chilly and foggy old-growth forest, both oaken and elven, stretching across the land as far as could be seen, with a creek snaking through it. Dotted along the oak forest were several cozy hamlets, joined together by dirt roads running through clear-cuts, each hamlet having associated farmland with grain fields. The homes were small and circular, with brick chimneys and thatched roofing; very humble to behold.

"Waky waky kitties!" The lass shouted, swinging the bedroom door open and stepping forth with a big eager smile on her face, arms raised joyously, eyes bright and face beaming; she was already dressed, wearing a green dress with an integrated hood left open, tall white socks, long leather boots. She also arranged her hair so that it hung as two tails over her collar bones.

Unfortunately, the boys' bedroom was silent and inactive this morning, as every morning was; although the heroes had a reputation of having difficulty waking up, they would then preform their quest without ever sleeping again. Well, the lass let her arms drop down her sides, looking at the four beds in the corners one by one, the occupants motionless under their blankets. Three beds had three occupants in them, whereas one bed had one, so that the brothers took turns sleeping alone in one bed every night. With a sigh, the lass walked across the room, spreading the drapes apart, allowing the sunrise to beam into the room, and then she opened the window, the polyphonic birdsong now fully resonating in the room. She turned around and sat on the window frame, crossing her arms, and putting one leg over the other, and leaned to the side a little.

"Come on guys, can I really rely on getting any work done if all my brothers are such lazy brats?" She asked aloud, her face glad and soft, she obviously pleasant and caring, expecting the boys to arise from their slumber, but that was exactly not what happened.

She smirked, loosened up, and then started grabbing the blankets and ripping them off the beds, throwing them against the walls one by one, revealing these sleepy kids that once hid in their soft comfy tombs. The boys all wore soft footie pyjamas of various colours; ten boys in total: four children around the age of 12, four teenagers about 16 years of age, and two young adults no more than 19 years old. The smallest boy, the one the lass spoke to last night, was the first to sit up, yawning and rubbing his face, and mumbling some illegible nonsense; although not the youngest, he was the smallest boy, and had the classical blonde hair and big blue eyes. His nine other brothers simply groaned, one by one, and squished themselves into their beds like pathetic worms, sometimes accidentally rolling into one another or stretching an arm or leg over one another. The sight of the sleepy boys made the lass giggle, especially when the smallest boy flopped back into bed with a little croak.

"Well, if I can't get you guys out of bed the easy way, you're asking for the hard way." The lass threatened, a little annoyed, and then she knelt upon the bed with the smallest brother lying in it, and then she started tickling the boys' feet, bellies and ribs, fingernails scratching against the fabric of their footie pyjamas, and in no time the younglings were kicking and giggling like oversized babies.

"Eh, don't!" One of the teen-aged brothers whined, he having bright brown hair and pale yellow eyes, not wanting to be treated like a child, and he immediately hopped off the bed from the edge, but was still smiling a little, shyly. He was peculiar, in that he had perfectly circular eye sockets, his skin was naturally quite pink, and his ears were shorter but much wider than the average Hylian's, giving him a feline look. Well, his two younger brothers remained in bed, allowing themselves to be tickled until awakened, the other child having red hair, brown eyes, freckles, and pale skin.

"Come on, get up!" The young woman teased, gently biting her tongue and she gave her two siblings an assault of tickles, they having to sit up and crawl backwards until their backs were against the wall, knees bending and moving around to dodge the tickling fingers at them, their heads pulled back and tilted, mouths open enough to reveal the front teeth, eyes squinting, and cheeks flushed with red as they laughed.

"Nee-oh! Stahp!" The redhead brother squeaked, having problems breathing and just dying for a break, so he curled up into a ball and rolled onto his side.

"Oh, now, let's get out of bed, then, ha! Getting out of bed, that's always the biggest adventure for you brats, hunh?" The lass remarked, waiting for a second and then giving her spherical brother another poke in the side.

"Ih-heh..." The redhead boy chuckled sleepily upon being poked.

"OK, Redhead, Little Link, you'll go out with Cougar today, to collect firewood and chop them up, too, he'll show you how. OK now, go get dressed." She continued, and the three brothers from this bed took turns going into the wardrobe to get dressed in it.

The lass then went to the next bed, seeing the three other beds with their occupants still fast asleep in them. The next bed had a child, a teenager, and a young adult. The child had curly black hair and big hazel eyes that he just began to open slowly, staring back at his older sister sweetly and sleepily, she smiling back, and he yawned and stretched, munching on nothing. He was very quiet, and slipped off the bed like a lazy slug, and then waddled to get in line for the wardrobe, Cougar and Redhead already done by this time, they now wearing thin, loose-fitting brown robes and long pointy brown hats (making them resemble East European peasants from the Middle Ages), the two then sitting on their beds and tying their boots. Little Link, being the shortest one, always had some difficulty, having to jump to reach the clothes in the closet, his little feet smacking against the wooden floor every time he landed.

"Come on you, wake up lazy Leo!" The young woman called quietly, poking her 19-year-old brother on the head until he was awaken, and he rolled onto his back with a groan, and then sat up with a sniffle. He had thick, heavy, long, flaring, dark blonde hair and a full but trimmed blonde beard, giving his facial and cranial hair the resemblance of a lion's mane. He had a rather big head, a broad jawline, a strong nose bridge, deep brown eyes, was getting a little chubby, and appeared quite strong in the arms.

Well, Leo Link just stared back at his sister as if she were some annoying thing, Leo Link rather annoyed, but his sister was always smiling; she beckoned him to get up, so he swooshed his muscled legs over the bed, and then generously stretched and yawned like a lazy lion. He just sat there, needing a little extra time to wake up, blinking slowly. He was the tallest and largest brother, and the most lazy.

"You too, Sunny." She continued, and this teenager was quite peculiar in that he had should-length wavy hair the colour of gold, skin that looked like it was gilded, and red eyes; he was born with xanthism, which gave him a very yellow tone to his body, hence his nickname, and he was quite tall, but not as tall as Leo. Sunny Link got out of bed steadily, and went near the wardrobe. "Come on, wake up, fatty!" The lass giggled, poking Leo in the side of his belly, which irritated him. He yawned rudely again, revealing his fangs to the world.

"Leo Link, Sunny Link, and that Link," the lass said, pointing to the Link who had black hair and hazel eyes last, "You three can go out and work in the field, you know, raking, scything, weeding, that sort of thing." she instructed, Leo mumbling acknowledgement.

Going to the third bed, the lass was happy to see at least one bed with inhabitants already waking up. This bed had a child in the middle, and a teenager and a young adult at the sides, the three having opened their eyes at the same time. The young adult was quite remarkable, in that he had atramentous skin, short vantablack hair that was perfectly straight and trimmed, and dark brown eyes of which the irises were unusually large, so much that the white of the eye balls were barely noticeable. The melanistic brother had a hooked nose, and was lean and long-legged. Well, he had quick reflexes, and so whipped himself out of bed, not having to yawn or stretch, and he made his way to line-up at the wardrobe.

"I wish everyone was like Raven." The lass remarked, looking at the child of this bed, who had white skin, white hair, and pale blue eyes, for he was an albino, absolutely contrasting his melanistic brother.

"I'm like Raven, too." The albino assured, crawling across the bed until falling over the edge.

"Oh-whoa! Are you OK, Snow?" The young woman asked, covering her mouth, leaning forwards, and then saw the albino's head pop up from behind the bed.

"Yeah!" He stated loud and proud, rubbing his head, and then pranced to the wardrobe; as an albino, he was partly blind and partly deaf, unfortunately, thus was the klutz of the family.

"Well then, my turn." The teenager said, he having bright brown hair, skin tanned from the sun, and bright brown eyes, the shade of his hair, skin and eyes all the same shade of brown. He had tightly toned muscles and was very fit, with some facial hair dotting his skin, a stubble.

"You, Raven and Snow will wash clothes this morning." The sister said to the tanned Link, which he was not looking forward too, but he did not complain.

"Aw, why do I have to do a girl's job?" Snow asked his sister, spinning around from where he stood, shoulders low and body bent over a bit.

"Because it's perfect for you." She replied.

As for Leo Link, well, he sat still, right palm on his check and right elbow on his lap, trying to get as much shut-eye as he could. His sister walked to him and knocked his right arm off his chin, so that his head fell, and so woke him with a gasp. He leaned back a bit and looked at his sister with an "Oh, really?" face. His sister replied by lowering her head and making her own "Oh, really?" face, then tilted her head, gesturing this Link to get ready for the day.

Most of the Links were already dressed in their traditional clothing, a robe worn over trousers and a shirt, and then a long pointed hat, to better protect from the cool autumn morning. The eldest sibling stood tall and proud, glad to get her brothers out of bed, which was never an easy task, a task she had grown sick of over the years, yet at the same time, she was always happy to be with her brothers, her only family left. At the thought of family, she had a face of sadness, putting her head back a bit, looking at the ceiling to make sure no teardrops fell out her eyes. There was such emptiness whenever she thought of... She inhaled sharply to snap out of it.

Looking around, the lass examined the boys, most of whom were almost ready to go. They were not even fighting or arguing, yet, which was a treat. Sunny knelt and helped tie Snow's boots for him, as the little one struggled with the laces. The sister counted her brothers in her head, found something odd, and then turned around, having forgotten about the last Link, the one who slept alone this time. Yes, he was asleep, on his front, head facing the wall, snoring a little, his limbs outstretch in all directions, he definitely having enjoyed so much extra room. This teen-aged Link had long dark brown hair arranged into dreadlocks, amber eyes, and was quite ordinary yet quite the black sheep with those dreadlocks, but at least he was still a descendant of courage. Smirking, the lass walked to her sleeping brother, crossing her arms and sticking her hips out.

"Come on sleepyhead, it's time to wake up!" She said, playing with the lad's dreadlocks, but this teen-aged brother was unresponsive, so she gave him a good stomp on the butt to wake him up.

"Hmmm inmminum? C'mon Linkle, let me sleep..." This Link muffled, putting his face into the pillow, dreadlocks showing over his entire skull like the branches of a willow tree, and then moving his arms around, wondering where his blanket went but too lazy to open his eyes, so he gave-up and tried to sleep, going into a foetal position.

"You've slept enough!" The sister assured with a beaming face, but her brother ignored her, and so she grabbed this Link by the ankles and dragged him off the bed, he clawing at the bed sheets until he flopped onto the floor with a thud.

"Ow..." The sleepyhead remarked, pain waking him up, so he sat up and shook his head, dreadlocks flopping around.

"Oh, why don't you cut those stupid things off?" The sister asked with some heat, her brother suddenly grabbing his hair by the sides of his head and lifting his knees.

"No." He replied looking up at his sister; she rolled her eyes and did not look back at him.

"Well, whatever... Hurry up, your brothers are dressed and waiting for you, we've got work to do. Actually, you're always slow, you stay in the house and cook everyone cream of wheat or something. And make sure your stupid dreadlocks don't dip in the food while you cook it!"


	2. Chapter 2 - Deku, Deku

**Chapter 2**

 **Deku, Deku**

Outside was a little misty and cool, with fog flowing out between the trees like ghostly floating streams, stretching over the fields as if the forest exhaled breath. It was a cold autumn morning, with pumpkins, potatoes, cucumbers, cabbages, carrots, squash, and other various root vegetables dotting the farmland here. However, most trees did not yet shed their leaves, and most remained green. With winter coming in the near future, harvesting as much as possible was a priority before the frost came, to maximize everything that could be saved or stored (meaning that extra work was required to achieve that).

The brothers went to work. Leo (the tall young adult Link with long blonde hair and a full blonde beard, making him look like he had a lion's mane), Sunny (the Link with golden skin and hair and red eyes, having xanthism) and the younger brother with curly black hair and hazel eyes worked along the fields; the small black-haired Link was the youngest sibling, but the tallest out of the younger children.

Leo and Sunny were weeding the field, and the young brother was using a scythe perhaps too big for him, raising it, the curved blade and the boy's imprint of the Triforce shimmering in the morning dew, the child's face expanding into eagerness, biting his tongue over a few molars and furrowing his eyebrows, preparing himself for the grand attack. After a few seconds of withheld preparations, Link finally swung his scythe, the blade cutting through the weeds easily, sending just one tiny piece of earth with some grass in it flying through the air, and so all that rotational force caused him to spin around and fall down, where he disappeared under the fog and then fell within the forest of wheat and grasses unnoticed.

"Leo, you gotta work harder than that, stop being so lazy." Sunny remarked, raking away at the weeds; although he was a little annoyed, he was still happy, and often smiled, as he was now.

"It only looks like I'm lazy, because I'm slow but strong." Leo assured; Sunny shook his head, struggling with the weeds as they were quite tough, but still smiled at least a little.

"Well, whatever. The reason why the Baba weeds keep growing back, is because you do a bad job at weeding them. You take your time, piling them around instead of ripping them or uprooting them, because you just want to take all the time you can take. I would not be surprised if one of our little brothers gets eaten by one, then it'd be all your fault!" Sunny warned, sounding a bit angry but was still smiling.

Leo huffed dismissively, and then noticed his little brother was missing, seeing the scythe lying over the wheat, but the wielder was gone. Sunny worked away, rake scraping against the earth and undesirable weeds. Nervous at what Sunny had said, Leo bent over and rummaged through the wheat and grasses, looking for his little brother, wondering where that Link had gone, hoping he was not eaten by a Deku Baba.

Struggling with some weeds, Sunny Link jerked his arms to and fro, as the teeth of his rake became entangled within the weeds, and he tried to pull the rake free. The rake rather stuck, Sunny gripped both hands at the butt and leaned backwards, hoping to use body weight to pull the rake free, squinting his eyes, pulling his head back, and gritting his teeth. Suddenly, he felt a tug and nearly lost balance from that. He realized his rake had lifted and slid along the stalk of a plant, and all of a sudden, a Deku Baba emerged from the ground, extending its stalk and its bulbous head expanding like a puffer fish's body.

"Nnyauhh!" Sunny exclaimed, letting go of the rake and putting his hands in front of himself, the Deku Baba writhing towards him and using its leaves to push the rake off itself, and then realigned itself and stared at Sunny, mouth opening and closing, its tongue wiggling around threateningly and drooling green stuff.

The Deku Baba snapped its mouth shut, curled back, and then lashed itself out at the Link who woke it up; Sunny jumped out of the way and upon landing hit his head against a big rock, and the Deku Baba ending up biting Leo's bottom, causing him to snap upright with his hands at his butt, frantically looking side to side over his shoulders and wondering what the heck just happened.

"Ahhh! What the hell, a Deku Baba just bit my bum!" Leo exclaimed, trying to run away, but the Deku Baba's stalk extended fully and refused to uproot, the stalk acting like a bungee cord and retracting from whence it came, pulling Leo back with it and causing him to fall over, where he immediately rolled around.

Sunny, who had fallen into the vegetation but also hit his head against a big rock, recovered quickly, sitting up, a little dazed but still smiling, and wondering what just happened (it would take more than a rock to knock out Link). Suddenly, his younger brother popped his head out of the stalks of wheat but kept his arms and the rest of his body in it, Sunny looking to the side and now face-to-face with his brother.

"Hi!" The younger brother exclaimed, eyes big and shiny, mouth smiling with the teeth parted, saliva falling off his upper lip.

Sunny's smile disappeared, and he put one hand over his little brother's face and pushed him back into the wall of wheat, which consumed the child Link, who muffled something in protest but his voice was drowned-out by the vegetation. Wiping the drool on his hand against his robe, Sunny got up and looked around, seeing his older brother trying to crawl away from the Deku Baba, but its jaws remained latched onto the young adult's butt; his full beard did not help him look any less pathetic.

Not really knowing what to do, Sunny looked around, heard rustling, and then his younger brother swam out the wall of wheat just under the heads, preforming a front flip—which caused his hat to fall off—and he landed in a kneeling position, his right palm against the ground, the Triforce at his backhand shining, and his fallen hat nearby. He looked at his hat, blinked, and then raised his head and scanned the situation with half-closed eyes.

"I'll save you, Link!" The young Link stated, grabbing his hat, putting it on, and then ran away, Sunny watching him scurry off. Sunny dove forth to help his brother, grabbing the stalk of the Deku Baba and pulling on it, trying to get it off his brother's bum.

"Ow! Stop that!" Leo cried.

"I'm trying to pull it off!" Sunny exclaimed.

"Well, don't do that! Do something else!"

"Like what!"

"Anything!" Leo shouted, so Sunny started kicking the Deku Baba in the back of its head but it refused to let go.

Sunny and Leo both caught a glimmer and turned their heads to the side, seeing their younger brother again, emerging from the fog, curly black hair flowing backwards as he ran, and he held his scythe overhead with both hands, sticking out and biting his tongue, head leaning back a bit, and his face full of excitement. Apparently, he had ran away only to retrieve his scythe, and now wanted to use it with righteous fury!

"No! What are you doing! You're gonna kill me!" The older Link cried, Sunny jumping off to the side to get out of the way of the crazy kid, who swung his scythe as he ran, intending to sweep it across the Deku Baba. Leo covered his head and jumped, scythe skidding over the ground where he just stood, the momentum causing its wielder to twirl, though he managed to swing it again carelessly upon finishing the revolution, forcing Leo to duck, the scythe blade knocking his hat off, and the young Link lost balance and fell over. The Deku Baba remained untouched by the scythe.

"Gimme that!" Sunny exclaimed, grabbing the scythe and pulling it out of his younger brother's hands before he could get up, hearing the little kid hissing with displeasure and extending his arms, fingers wiggling in the air in a futile attempt to get his scythe back. Sunny swung the scythe across the stalk of the Deku Baba gently, and cut through it easily.

"Yeahhh!" The child Link exclaimed triumphantly, exhaled breath visible, getting up and throwing his arms in the air, but the Deku Baba head was still on Leo Link's rear end, Leo dancing around trying to detach the damn thing. Sunny tossed the scythe away and grabbed the stalk attached to the head of the Deku Baba, pulling on it, causing Leo to cry out, as it still refused to let go!

Meanwhile, at the other side of the homestead, Raven (the melanistic Link), Snow (the child albino Link) and the tanned Link had each taken a basket of clothes and put them nearby a large but thin cauldron of water mixed with ashes. The cauldron was placed upon a copper framework over a fire that looked like a primitive incomplete brazier, and once warm, Raven grabbed the cauldron by its two handles and placed it upon a flat stone nearby, and the laundry began after the brothers rolled their sleeves up.

The launderer-Links overheard Leo, Sunny and the young sibling with them yelling in the background behind the walls of wheat, but didn't care. The launderers scrubbed, twisted, rubbed, and moved the clothes around in the ashy water; the ashes served as a kind of soap, and was useful for scrubbing clothes and dishes clean. Nearby was a clothesline, set from a window of the house to a post.

Raven sighed, not even caring to look away from the water, "Sounds like they're fighting again." He said, finding his job boring, but it had to be done stoically.

"I hate washing clothes." Snow complained to himself, hands moving side to side under the water, seeing the Triforce at the back of his hand underneath the water, and when he lifted his hands out, he noticed he was not holding onto anything.

The tanned teen-aged Link said nothing, washing clothes without any issues at all, obedient and quiet. The launderers weren't doing anything interesting. They saw their sister walk across the lawn, heading for the fenced-in chicken coop to feed the hens, carrying a large sack of grain, the rooster eyeing her warily. She already heard the chicks squeaking inside the hen house, she walking backwards into the gate to open it. The rooster jumped off the fence and followed her, eagerly awaiting food to flutter. She opened the chicken coop and immediately several chickens and two dozen or so chicks amassed out, squeaking and clucking, and then food rained upon the feathered creatures.

Towards the edge of the forest, off the road, Redhead, Little Link and Cougar stood at a shack, in it a little stack of chunks of logs and large branches, but the shack was almost empty, obviously needing more firewood. These three brothers overheard Sunny, Leo and the black-haired child Link yelping about, seeing the older brothers' heads and arms above the line of wheat, but unable to fully see what was going on, they did not care and minded their own business.

"Hey! You guys better shut it, or I'll come over there!" The boys in trouble heard Linkle shout from afar, and immediately, Leo, Sunny and the child Link with them stopped yelling, instead resorting to whispering their despair from whatever trouble they had gotten themselves into.

Although no-one outside the wheat fields could see, Sunny and Leo had been attacked by Deku Babas, which had slithered along with greatly extended stalks, like vines, and the strange plants had clapped their jaws over the two Links' legs. Leo and Sunny whimpered while trying to free themselves quietly and politely; their younger brother ran around in a circle with a Deku Baba bulb over his entire head, muffling inside it, the plant's stalk trying to retract and drag the kid deeper into the field.

Meanwhile, inside the home, Link with dreadlocks was cooking cream of wheat in several pots, placed in the brick oven integrated with the fireplace but above it. The house was quite simple, consisting of a living room that was also the kitchen, a bedroom for the boys, and a small bedroom for the sister. The living room had a round table with several chairs, a sofa near the fireplace, two windows at opposite sides, and a few pieces of ordinary furniture against the walls.

"You two should stay here and cut the wood, there could be wild animals out there." Cougar said, unaware of the Deku Babas eating his brothers, getting several long laces from the shack and putting them in his pocket, his two little brothers thrilled to use axes, both of them running into the shack and getting the saw and axe from the wall, Little Link having to jump to reach the axe, and then Cougar walked towards the forest, leaving his two brothers to chop and saw wood on their own. The axe head was loose on the helve, but Little Link did not care.

Once deep enough to not be visible by everyone else, Cougar began collecting firewood, wandering through small to tiny trees, grasses, ferns, plants, and whatnot, simply picking up sticks and fallen branches, and then tying two laces around them to form a bundle of firewood, which he put on the ground. Cougar preferred to work alone, to be alone, and sighed at the thought of freedom, looking up into the canopy of the many oak trees here, and breathing the cool but fresh foggy air that swirled amidst the trees, seeing some rays of sunlight beaming in-between openings in the canopy. He wished he could just run into the woods and never look back.

Overhearing birdsong, chipmunks, woodpeckers, and the occasional insect buzzing around, Cougar continued making the next bundle of firewood, piling sticks and branches on a spot. As he did so, he grabbed a piece of wood and tried to lift it, and then a Deku Scrub burst out the ground with an alarmed squeak, causing Cougar to yelp and flinch, and the woody creature's jump was high enough to allow him to inadvertently head-butt Cougar in the face, which staggered him.

The Deku Scrub was a woody creature that had a large spherical head about three feet in diameter, a tiny torso, and a pair of stubby legs, but no arms. It had a pair of glowing orange eyes, a tubular nose, and foliage covering the top of its head and showering around itself. Well, it pranced around frantically, wooden feet thudding against the forest floor, its running causing saplings to sway as it passed amidst them. The Deku Scrub vibrated to Cougar and stood before him up-close, tilted his head back, and looked at the Hylian teenager's circular yellow eyes.

"Ow! You have a hard head! Why did you grab my nose?" The Deku creature demanded with a high-pitched but strong whistling voice, shaking its head, foliage rustling, and then he jumped up and stuck his legs forwards before landing on the ground. Cougar did not know what to say, having never seen such a creature before. The Deku Scrub became impatient, now tapping one foot repeatedly, leaning to the side, shaking his head repeatedly, and waiting for a reply.

"Oh, uh, I was just collecting firewood." Cougar replied with an innocent shrug, a nervous smile showing the teeth, eyebrows lifted, and he bent his ears low, expressing his apologies.

"Firewood!" The Deku Scrub squeaked with a jump, "So you wanted to use me as firewood, hunh?" He continued, Cougar pausing with his facial expression as is, slightly confused, but before he could say anything, the Deku Scrub whistled a loud powerfully, and then a dozen other Deku Scrubs popped out of the ground nearby, all of them Mad Scrubs around the same size as the Deku Scrub, and they had foliage that was red, orange and yellow, perhaps older chaps.

Cougar looked side to side, wondering what was going on, the twelve Mad Scrubs eyeing him angrily, their leafage rustling in the wind, the fog drifting along across the forest floor, birdsong and woodpeckers echoing, and then Cougar looked down back at the Deku Scrub before him. Cougar The wooden creature suddenly jumped, and kicked Cougar in the crotch with one foot, Cougar bending his knees, leaning forwards, closing his eyes, scrunching up his face, and obviously in pain.

"Get him!" A Mad Scrub squawked, and then the twelve of them retracted their noses, protracted them suddenly, and each spat out a nut. The volley of nuts whizzed at Cougar, who received the rock-hard shells over his face, knees and shins, but a few missed, fortunately.

"Ow!" Cougar exclaimed, and in anger, he hit the Deku Scrub in the forehead with a palm strike that knocked the woody thing over onto its back. In no time, more nuts flew into his body, and the Deku Scrub he knocked over jumped back to its feet. Cougar turned around and tried to run, but was in too much pain between the legs, feeling the Mad Scrubs barraging his backside with rock-hard shells that audibly thudded against his body. The Deku Scrub also shot a nut, which clonked against the back of Cougar's head, and the scrubs laughed at him. Eager at the prospect of such an easy opponent, the Deku Scrub ran forth and jumped in the air, drop-kicking Cougar in the back, wooden feet thumping against Cougar's back, and he fell over onto his front. He teenager then crawled forth, feeling the stretching and pulsating pain in his crotch spreading into his pelvis.

"Shoot him in the butt!" One of the Mad Scrubs squealed, and shot a nut at Cougar's bottom, and jumped with joy. The lad picked himself up, feeling the barrage of nuts bouncing off his spine, shoulders and tailbone, and he limped off, hearing the nuts that missed him hit the ground and trees, and sometimes hearing the few that whizzed past his ear, not even caring about the firewood he had collected thus far.

Back at the homestead, Linkle was sitting on the ground, carving from a metre-long piece of wood, which used to be part of a trunk of a young tree that was split in half, the halves split again, and one quarter was then being carved into a shaft. Fog still drifting across the scenery, Linkle stretched and yawned, sat up, and looked around, seeing her tanned brother, Snow, and Raven washing away. Some clothes were already on the clothesline.

"It's too cold now, we should heat it up again." Snow whined, crossing his arms and pretending to be freezing for a second, causing his two brothers and Link to chuckle slightly.

"Well, we could use a break anyways..." Raven remarked, so his tanned brother put the cauldron back onto the copper framework over the fireplace, and the three brothers dried-off their arms with towels. Snow then ran to the cauldron, looking inside it, seeing some clothes still floating around inside, and he chuckled from that.

"It's clothes soup!" Snow exclaimed happily, Linkle smirking when she heard that, and then she just felt tired, put her knife and shaft down, relaxed, and closed her eyes.

"Ha, well, looks like the fire needs more wood, and I did not bring any more firewood, so I'll get some more." Raven said, then walked towards the shack, seeing Redhead and Little Link sawing or chopping away. Raven reached his two younger brothers, picking up the little branch Redhead sawed off his log, a handful of kindling, and a small quartered log. "Good going, guys." Raven complimented, Little Link and Redhead smiling with open mouths and looking at him.

Whilst Raven walked back to the fireplace, he heard knocking echoing from the forest, and finding that unusual, stopped and turned around. Noticing Raven watch the forest, Little Link and Redhead did likewise. Cougar appeared, limping through the forest, the thirteen Deku Scrubs running after him while shooting nuts at him, some of the nutty projectiles thudding against the trees. Upon seeing his brother limping, Raven dropped his wood and ran to Cougar, who put his right hand behind his head to protect it, but then felt a nut smack against his knuckles, the Triforce shimmering in the sun; too bad it didn't protect him against nuts.

As Raven ran, one Deku nut arched over Cougar's shoulder and hit Raven's hat, knocking it off his head, Raven then grabbing his hair for a moment. Raven Link ran passed Cougar Link and charged the Deku Scrubs with nothing but his hands, the Deku boys sliding to a stop and wondering why someone was running towards them. So they launched nuts at the melanistic Link, who crossed his arms and shielded himself, feeling the things bounce off his forearms, elbows and hands, hurting him. One Mad Scrub ran forth and leapt at the charging Raven, intending to headbutt him, but Raven caught the Mad Scrub midair by its leafage, spun around to gain momentum, and threw the woody creature into a nearby tree, who bounced off it with a knock, some leaves fluttering out its foliage.

At that, the twelve Deku chaps standing held their ground and began retching nuts at Raven Link, aiming for his crotch, shins and face, the areas that hurt most. Somewhat overwhelmed by the volley of twelve nuts, Raven turned around and ran away, some scrubs whistling. Sensing something wrong, Redhead and Little Link jumped to action without thinking or talking, Redhead holding the saw, and Little Link with his axe, the two kids rushing from behind the shack and catching the Deku Scrubs by surprise. Little Link swung his axe down, but the targeted Mad Scrub skipped backwards, axe sinking into the earth, and the wooden creature spat a nut at Little Link, hitting him in the left eye.

"Owy!" Little Link cried, smacking a hand over his hurt eye and leaving the axe in the ground. Redhead charged, swinging his saw diagonally to and fro as if it were a sword, the toothed blade whirring through the air, causing several Mad Scrubs to oscillate away, one rolling sideways over his head, and another skipping off squeaking. A few other Mad Scrubs shot nuts at Redhead, but he saw them coming and turned his saw sideways, so that the flat of it blocked two nuts, but another hit him in the thigh, and a four missed, rolling along the grass for a while. Raven and Cougar spun around and ran back towards the scrubs, wanting to help their young brothers.

Redhead was caught in a crossfire, for the Deku Scrubs who had dodged him also were at his flanks, and all of the wooden creatures shot nuts at him at three sides, all with greater vigour. Nuts thudding against the child's body, he only managed to block a few with his saw, the scrubs aiming for his fingers, hurting them until he dropped his saw, and overwhelmed by too many opponents, he turned around and scurried away, the Deku Scrubs squealing and jumping victoriously for a second. Little Link, with his right eye, upon seeing his brother fleeing , grabbed the axe, pulled it out of the ground, and ran forth, left eye closed, swinging the axe around recklessly, and immediately felt a barrage of nuts.

"Ouch!" Little Link exclaimed, but he nevertheless raised his axe and threw it at the scrubs, who saw it coming with their hyperactive behaviour and dodged it easily with all of them squeaking in panic for a moment, but the axe hit the ground and cartwheeled along the grass for several feet, frightening the Deku Scrubs who ran away from it wheezing and squealing, for they did not expect it to do that.

While the Deku Scrubs stared at the axe and so were distracted for a few seconds, Raven picked up Little Link from under the shoulders and carried him off away from the woody pests, whereas Cougar, still quite sore between the legs, just served as a standing body as Redhead ran passed him, and then the four brothers fled the Deku Scrubs, the scrub that was thrown into the tree by this time rejoining his brethren. The thirteen wooden creatures chased after the brothers while shooting nuts at them relentlessly.

Linkle opened her eyes a little, smiling as she was glad, hands clasped and sitting on her upper chest, seeing Snow grasp a piece of wood burning on one end from the fireplace, and he and their tanned brother ran across Linkle's vision. She did not know what was going on, but was still smiling comfortably, and a second later, she saw Snow, Raven, Redhead, Little Link, Cougar and her tanned brother all running across her vision, thirteen Deku Scrubs chasing them.

Linkle was still smiling warmly, half-asleep, and then she saw Leo and Sunny running across the scene, covered with a dozen or so Deku Babas that had been ripped out the ground but their heads still bit over the two brothers, and the plants even wrapped their stalks around their victims. She also saw the young Link with black hair running around randomly muffling wildly, the Deku Baba that bit over his entire head still on him. The young Link with a Deku Baba head over his own ran into the cauldron, knocking it off the copper framework and falling over it, the contents of the cauldron spilling out. Linkle continued smiling warmly, made herself comfy, and fell back asleep.


	3. Chapter 3 - More Deku, Deku

**Chapter 3**

 **More Deku, Deku**

Linkle suddenly sat up with a surprised face.

"Oh wait, what the hell!" Linkle cried out, jumping onto her feet as chaos ensued in front of her, her brothers and the scrubs running around the field, brothers shouting and scrubs squeaking. The young Link with a Deku Baba over his head ran into the clothesline and got knocked down from it, the clothes on it flying off. She knelt, grabbing her carving knife and the shaft she was working on in either hand, and ran forth to help her brothers.

The chickens were squawking and ran back into the coop, chicks following the hens, the rooster looking around and not knowing what was going on, so he jumped off the fence post and charged the nearest Deku Scrub, the rooster raising his wings and flapping the, pecking the scrub, who kicked the rooster. The rooster, upon being kicked, fluttered forth and attacked with his talons and beak.

Snow was swinging his stick burning on one end at the scrubs, whose natural fear of fire caused them to skip away, keeping their distance as they shot nuts at the boys; snow managed to whip his stick into a few scrubs but that did little, the embers at the end glowing and smoking as he swung it through the air. A few nuts to the face made him nervous, and he raised his arms to protect himself, staying defensive for now, looking around frantically.

"Watch out, Link!" Little Link yelled suddenly, most of his brothers looking around and wondering who he was referring to, Raven, Snow, Redhead and Cougar getting shot in the face upon being distracted.

The tanned teenager ran to the cauldron, grasping it by the handles and picking it up, the remaining water spilling out over his front, and he ran towards the Mad Scrubs with it while pointing it forwards, hearing nuts thudding against its bottom. Once close enough, he raised the thin cauldron overhead, intending to slam it down, feeling a nut smack him in the nose, but he did manage to run forwards, overcoming a Mad Scrub who ran backwards but nevertheless got slammed by the big pot, and was sandwiched against the ground. This Link raised his cauldron again and slammed it a second time against the scrub, the cauldron going doinnng and vibrating in his hands. Then he raised it a third time, a spat Deku nut bouncing off it as he did so, and brought it down again, but the Mad Scrub rolled sideways, and so the cauldron hit the ground, leaving Link open and so so he felt a few nuts smack him in the chin and torso. The tanned Link raised his big pot and ran forth, using the laundry cauldron as a two-handed shield and smashing device, the scrubs keeping their distance from him.

"Get back here you cowards!" Redhead squeaked angrily, flurrying his fists in the air as he ran after the scrubs wildly, his face having been hit by so many nutty things his blood leaked and dripped upon his shirt.

"Shut up, kid!" A Mad Scrub squeaked back, running towards Redhead and leaping itself into a flying headbutt again, both combatants going into one another and bouncing off one another. Redhead, having arms, was the first to get up and jumped at the Mad Scrub, intending to stamp both feet into it, but the scrub rolled sideways, got up, and ran away.

Meanwhile, Raven, Redhead, Cougar, and Little Link could do not much, and tried dodging the nutty projectiles while looking for openings, they attempting to tackle or kick the Mad Scrubs, but the woody beings were so fast and had such excellent reflexes they often vibrated out of the way and shot nuts. How many nuts were inside a Deku Scrub, anyway?

Cougar's pain in his groin made him unable to do much, but he did not give up, feeling braver now that he was with his brothers, but those who had confronted the scrubs already were quite beat-up by the woodland creatures' projectiles, the brothers' lips, foreheads, eyebrows and knuckles split and drawing some blood. Cougar also rolled his shoulders and swayed his head to dodge the projectiles at him, but now that he was with his brothers, the scrubs had more targets, and so could not concentrate their shooting on a single person.

"We need to regroup, guys! Get together!" The Deku Scrub chirped loudly, looking side to side with his big orange eyes, but the Mad Scrubs, too wild to obey orders, run around, their feet thumping and foliage rustling. Now spread apart, the scrubs would be easier to take on.

"Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!" One of the Mad Scrubs chanted to herself as she bounced around; other scrubs wheezed or squeaked with excitement of the fighting, sometimes jumping into flying headbutts at the brothers if they got too close, but the brothers would simply sidestep and evade the flying attacks, or if an older brother would push-kick the scrub down midair, then quickly run and kick at the fallen scrub.

Redhead was quite aggressive, running forwards even as he felt woody things hit him, crossing his arms over his face, and then managing to tackle a Mad Scrub to the ground; the Deku Scrub saw this and ran forth, drop-kicking Redhead in the collarbones and knocking him off the Mad Scrub. Redhead picked himself up and started kicking and punching the wooden beings, wild-eyed, face bleeding, foaming at the mouth, little fists and feet clicking against the wooden bodies. The scrubs also headbutted at the incoming limbs, to hurt them, for their wooden frames were so much harder than a human body, and the Redhead did little other than hurt himself! But how can a redhead be controlled?

"Vizzzizizizizbahlalalalalalaaaa brrrrrrr aaahhhh hahahaha!" Redhead screamed, but whatever he meant to say, was anybody's guess.

Despite having bleeding faces and fingers, even the young children did not cry, and most of them that could, grabbed Deku nuts off the ground that were shot at them, and threw them back at the Deku Scrubs, as well as using rocks whenever they could be found; most thrown projectiles missed, some knocking against the scrubs' wooden hulls. Cougar, unable to do much as he was still sore between the legs, did stick his arms out, palms open, presenting his palms to use as small shields, feeling the nuts smack into his palms as he slapped or blocked those annoying things. He saw the rooster flying and running around, but it achieved nothing, only serving as a distraction for the Deku Scrubs.

Linkle ran to her brothers being chewed on by the Deku Babas, dropping the stave she had been carving, going to the youngest one first, grabbing the Deku Baba bulb with her free hand and then used her knife to cut the stalk off and then cut the plant's mandibles open, but it remained affixed to the boy's skull (she was also being careful not to cut the boy by accident). However, the child was too nervous and ran off, hearing the fireplace, and so he kicked the framework of copper out of the way and rammed his head into the coals, and the Deku Baba head sizzled and soon writhed off, slithering away while chewing on the hat it managed to steal. The child's head and neck were chewed enough for the skin to be punctured here and there and bled.

The sister immediately ran to Sunny and Leo, grabbing the Deku Babas with her hand and then cut the plants, cutting their stalks off easily, and then she would then slice or stab into the bulbs, being careful not to accidentally cut her brothers. Leo and Sunny would also grab the heads cut open and pull them apart, ripping the jaws asunder and throwing them away, and so were able to free themselves. They were surprised to see more trouble nearby!

"Let's go, boys." Linkle said, gesturing with her head, and at that, she, Leo, Sunny and the black-haired child joined the fray, Sunny grabbing the shaft Linkle had dropped. At the same time, the Link with dreadlocks ran out his house, brandishing two empty cooking pots in either hand, and joined the fray, using the pots as shields, hitting away the nuts shot and him, and then charging at the nearest scrub, who ran backwards, but Link ran faster enough to clobber the woody being in the head repeatedly with both pots. At that, the Mad Scrub squeaked and ran away, so the pots-wielding Link followed his brothers against the other scrubs. Sunny gripped the shaft he held with both hands, and rammed it into a Mad Scrub's nose just as it was about to launch a nut, causing it to sneeze backwards and so swallow its nut.

"Suck on it!" Sunny shouted, and kicked the mad Scrub off his stick, and then joined his family to fight the other scrubs, seeing his tanned brother chasing off a few scrubs with the cauldron.

"Well, you don't see that everyday..." One of the Mad Scrubs remarked, having witnessed what Sunny just did, and then rolled out of the way as this cauldron came smashing down into the ground where it once stood. Sunny swung his stave repeatedly into the scrubs when he could reach them.

Linkle felt a few nutty missiles smack into her torso, so she spun while running, dodging a nut, and then charged forth, tackling into the Deku Scrub who easily fell on his back, stabbing her knife into its head, the tip of the blade poking into the wood but doing little. The Deku Scrub realigned his face and spat a nut into Linkle's face at point-blank range, the projectile bouncing off her eyebrow and spinning midair. Linkle put one hand over her face, feeling the Deku Scrub writhing below her, so she rammed her knife into the side of the being's head and the knife stuck in it, and then the Deku Scrub managed to squirm out of her grasp and ran away.

"Hey! Give me back my knife!" Linkle yelled, running after the Deku Scrub, for her knife was still embedded in him!

Most of the Mad Scrubs by this time were preoccupied with the various brothers, Sunny hitting them with his stave, the tanned Link using his cauldron, Snow swinging his burning stick to and fro and always missing as he was partly blind, and the others relying on kicking or pushing. Now, the Deku Scrubs lost their advantage and mostly separated from one another.

One of the Deku Babas cut off of Leo writhed to the scene, jumping up and biting a scrub on the nose, and it ran away while shaking its head. It then resorted to spitting out a nut, causing the Deku Baba head to fly off with a Deku nut in its mouth, chewing on it.

"That'll teach you to bite my nose! You stupid plant!" The Mad Scrub shouted with a jump, and then Snow hit this scrub with his burning piece of wood, some ashes falling into its foliage, and upon the scent of smoke, the scrub ran away, leafage smoking a little.

The black-haired child Link ran forth eagerly, feeling a Deku nut hit his chest, but he ignored it and drop-kicked the scrub who spat the nut at him in the head, causing it to fall backwards. The scrub and the boy got up at the same time, and the Mad Scrub leapt at him, headbutting him in the face, and the child staggered. The Mad Scrub was about to jump again, but the cook-Link hit it in the head with his pots, and it ran away, shooting a nut at the cook's head, but the cooks' dreadlocks helped cushion the force of the nut.

"Eh, thanks!" The child exclaimed to his brother happily.

Elsewhere, Leo managed to run into a Mad Scrub, preforming a jumping kick, which knocked the Mad Scrub over, who spat a nut up in the air by accident upon falling on his back. Leo grabbed the scrub by the legs, lifted it over his shoulders, and threw it across the field, the creature spinning through the air and squeaking. Upon seeing things turn around, the Deku Scrubs looked around, foliage shuffling, and then they decided to call it quits and ran away, back towards the forest. Since Leo was big and the slowest sibling, the scrubs easily evaded him, and he was unable to catch any of them.

"I thought there were only four of them! Where did the others come from?" A Mad Scrub whined as he fled, the rooster running after him.

"Let's get out of here!" One of the scrubs cried.

"Rrruuunnnnnn!" Another whistled, and the family chased them into the woods, but Cougar stayed behind. Leo, being the biggest, could not run very fast, and was behind everyone else who chased after the wooden creatures, some of whom ran backwards while shooting nuts. Little Link managed to catch one nut midair while spinning, grabbing it from behind, and upon finishing the revolution, threw it back at the shooter.

"Let's get 'em!" Little Link squeaked; the rooster chased the scrubs until they were far away from the coop enough for he to stop, and then he stood watch with his beady eyes. A few hens stepped out the hen house to see what happened, several chicks at their legs.

Linkle managed to catch up to the Deku Scrub and tackled into his backside, taking him down, pulling her knife out of his head and then punching the bottom of its handle repeatedly into him. The female Mad Scrub swerved in-between the various brothers, dodging a cauldron, a stave, a stick, and an attempted drop-kick preformed by Redhead, and then she jumped forth and headbutted Linkle in the face, causing the sister to rear back, and the Deku Scrub managed to squirm out form under her and ran away with the female Mad Scrub. At that, all the Deku Scrubs scurried off into the woods. Redhead continued the pursuit after his family had stopped, running into the woods alone.

"Link! Come back!" Little Link and Linkle yelled at the same time; Leo grabbed the axe from the ground.

Redhead kept running, feeling blood leaking out his face, tasting his own blood, and all of a sudden, the thirteen Deku Scrubs turned around and charged him! Believing in himself, face hot with blood and anger, Redhead ran into the Mad Scrubs, grinning and narrowing his eyes, and was instantly piled by them. The Mad Scrubs who were able stomped upon the child for several seconds straight, but they soon ran away once the child's family ran to the scene, Snow accidentally running into a tree and bouncing off it, a cauldron, a pot, and an axe thrown at the scrubs which scared them away, leaving behind a beat-up child Link twitching on the ground unconscious face-down. The family exclaimed their worries, and Snow picked himself up from the ground, wondering how he ran into a tree.

"Oh my Goddesses!" Linkle exclaimed, running to Redhead and kneeling before him, seeing blood leaking out his mouth and nose. She rolled Redhead onto his side and opened his mouth, hearing him cough lightly, and he slowly opened his eyes, looking at his sister, and smiled, but was too hurt to say anything. Linkle sighed with a mix of relief and worry. The family heard shuffling echoing deeper in the woods, and a flock of birds flew away from the canopy.

"Sounds like more of them are coming." Little Link remarked, wiping blood off his face with his sleeve. Linkle put her arms under Redhead and picked him up.

"Go get the things you threw back, and let's go home before more scrubs come." Linkle said, her brothers going off to retrieved the things they threw, and then the family jogged homewards, hearing the echoes of shuffling and squeaking deeper in the woods. Once they reached home, they went inside, and locked the door, leaving all work undone, a few Deku Baba heads slithering back into the wheat field.

"Oh, breakfast is ready." Link with dreadlocks remarked, looking at the oven. And so ended the crazy morning.


	4. Chapter 4 - Fiddle me This

**Chapter 4**

 **Fiddle me This**

"UUGGHH. Boys..." Linkle complained to herself, watching how all her brothers except the cook having bleeding faces, giving them mean looks. The brothers were often a little nervous when big sister was upset, the young ones looking away, Snow putting his fingertips of either hand together. "None of you can do anything without me!" She whined, going into the boys' bedroom and placing Redhead on a bed, stroking his forehead. She then got towels from the closet, sat beside Redhead, put the towels on her lap, and cleaned his face, the child regaining some consciousness, feeling the towel rub against him, pulling on his skin, wounds and tissue.

"Mm." Redhead exclaimed, wanting to turn around, but his sister grabbed him over the jaw with her thumb and first finger so that she could clean him better, the boy resisting a little but quickly giving up, becoming loose and annoyed, looking away.

"Tck! Stop being such a baby, if we don't clean you up, you'll get an infection, then it'll be worse." Linkle said, and then started moving Redhead's head around as if it were a piece of furniture so that she could gently scrub the wounds clean. Her shoulders dropped low and she paused; she hated seeing her family hurt. "Here, hold this against your face to stop the bleeding. Your clothes will be dirty enough to clean as it is, the last thing I need is the house getting all bloody." She continued, getting a clean towel and putting it over Redhead's face, the boy holding it there.

Eventually, all the brothers were cleaned, faces bandaged, and those who had not lost their hats outside had put them on the hatstand at the entrance. The brothers sat at the table and couch, eating breakfast, which was cream-of-wheat in a bowl each (the boys who ate at the couch had the bowls on their laps). Rather boring, but still food. Leo, Raven and Cougar did not look eager to eat the porridge, but Little Link, who sat at the table, his feet above the floor, and he put a spoon overflowing with cream-of-wheat into his mouth eagerly, and was happy.

"Eat it up, it's good for you." Linkle slightly snapped, not even having to look to know a few boys were not eating. She used a dipper to get herself a bowl of wheatlets, the dipper scraping against the bowl, so there was not much left in the last pot; as usual, she ate less than her brothers. It wasn't always easy to feed so many boys, but she had no problem eating less so that her brothers could have a little more.

"I like the clumps in it." Little Link remarked, referring to the little clumps in his wheatlets, moving his spoon around to find them.

"Yeah, me to." The child Link with black hair agreed.

"I don't." Snow mumbled, spoon mixing in the porridge so that the little masses broke apart.

After breakfast, the bowls and spoons were put into a broad bucket. Linkle headed for the door, about to open and step through, but stopped, hand on the doorknob. Several brothers noticed, and they also paused. Linkle went to one of the windows and looked out of it. The morning had not changed much, but there was less fog by this time. She saw a Mad Scrub patrolling outside, walking along without noticing her.

"Hey you!" Linkle called, opening the window, the Mad Scrub stopping and looking at the blonde lass. "Yeah you! Get lost! Get off my property!" She shouted angrily, hands on the window frame and she leaning through it. The Mad Scrub sniffled, then continued walking forwards as if nothing happened. Linkle groaned lightly and closed the window. She looked at the entrance, seeing the axe, saw, and the shaft she was carving leaning against the wall, taken into the home to be used as improvised weapons.

"Are they still out there?" Cougar asked, gritting his teeth and parting the lips; he had unusually long canine teeth.

"At least one. They better not hurt the chickens, I left the gate to the hen house open I think." Linkle said with some worry in her voice, turning around to face her brothers, sitting against the window frame, and crossing her arms, pondering about the situation.

"What should we do now?" Leo asked, Linkle looking at him.

"You're hoping for a day-off, hunh?" She asked, tilting her head and smiling. "Well, we've all had a rough start, and I didn't get it as bad as you guys, and with those big scary monsters waiting for us outside..." She continued, the younglings looking up at her eagerly, she stifling a chuckle. "Yeah, you all should sleep-in, you guys need a big break from what happened today, I don't blame you. If we lose some of our crops from frostbite, oh well, that's life, at least we won't lose each other." Everything calmed down after she said that.

Later, Leo sat sitting on the couch sleeping, Raven helped Linkle wipe the bowls and spoons in a bucket of water, and the four teen-aged brothers tidying the place up. The four younglings were playing in the bedroom and jumping on the beds, pillow fighting, and making a mess. Regardless, within minutes, the living room was clean.

"Well, that was fast. Everything's clean, now I won't have anything to do later." Linkle remarked, putting the dishes along the counter to dry up. "But thanks guys, for helping me." She continued, and then walked around the couch, seeing chubby Leo just sitting there, hands clasped and on his lap, head tilted, and she sat on the arm of the couch, cracking her knuckles. The children giggled and played audibly in the bedroom. "I hope they won't make too big a mess." Linkle remarked, and then the children became rather quiet. "Redhead, how are you feeling?" Linkle called, she and her brothers quickly getting bored.

"Good." Redhead called, and then the children laughed and started playing again. Linkle turned her head, seeing Raven looking out a window to check on those Mad Scrubs.

Sunny and Cougar agreed to something and then sat at the dining table, and began arm wrestling. The tanned Link leaned against the wall, crossed his arms, and did nothing. The Link with dreadlocks yawned and stretched rudely, wondering what to do.

"How long do you think we'll be held up in here?" The Link with dreadlocks asked.

"Probably a few hours to a day, Dreadlocks. I'm just hoping all of those we heard moving in the forest won't trample our crops, that'd be bad. But they also get scared easily; if there's lots of them around, and they don't go away, we can wait to nighttime and then suddenly run out the house screaming like crazy, and scare the scrubs off." Big sister said.

"I don't see any outside, at least from here." Raven remarked, hearing the back of someone's hand smack against the tabletop; Cougar lost, and Sunny raised his arms.

"Ah ha!" Sunny exclaimed in triumph, looking around happily, but no-one cared. Sunny soon put his arms down.

"OK, next round, but this time, other hand." Cougar said, putting his elbow on the table and leaning forwards eagerly, like a cat ready to pounce on a mouse. Linkle made a half smile from that, then sat on the couch beside Leo and made herself comfortable; Leo did not even budge.

"I'm already bored, I wish something would happen." The sister mumbled while yawning, and then heard the door knocking for a second. The knocking door caused the arm wrestlers to stop, everyone except Leo staring at the door, but the children kept playing.

"I see two scrubs outside now." Raven said, looking out the window, and sure enough there were two Mad Scrubs, having made themselves comfortable in the grass, and then sunk their heads within the ground and were gone, foliage obviously sitting on the ground.

Linkle stood up from the couch, staring out the other window, and saw a Mad Scrub just walk into view. The Mad Scrub seemingly stretched, shook its head, leafage rustling, and then it sat down cross-legged, and stared at a flock of small birds fly overhead.

"Are they around the house?" Dreadlocks asked, making everyone nervous; Cougar and Sunny stopped arm wresting and stood, wondering if another fight with those woody things would begin again. So, Linkle unsheathed her carving knife with her left hand and approached the door sternly, her brothers following her, but Leo remained asleep and started snoring.

Linkle grabbed the doorknob with her right hand and swung it open, carving knife held at her side with the tip pointing forwards, and she stepped out with an angry face. A young woman with long red hair and blue eyes was before Linkle, and upon see the farm girl holding a knife, the young woman raised her hands with a surprised face.

"Oh my Goddesses, Linkle! What's that for?" The woman cried, leaning backwards, eyes big. She wore a pink skirt, tall leather boots, and a light cream-coloured shirt with the sleeves rolled back. Behind her, a few dozen metres, was a decent-sized wagon with four horses harnessed to it. The driver was another redhead young woman, who wore similar clothes to the first redhead, and looked quite similar to her, probably her auntie, and so was a little older. The driver was just sitting at the front of the wagon, waiting politely and quietly, checking her fingernails as a small bird flew by her, not noticing what just happened at the house.

"Oh! Sorry Malon, I thought you were a scrub. A bunch of them attacked us, bloodied up Redhead!" Linkle said, sheathing her knife and then looking side to side.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Even at Lon Lon Ranch, there's quite a lot of them scurrying around lately, they scare my cows, and then Ingo chases them off with a pitchfork! I see a few here now." The redhead woman said, a child version of her in a very light purple dress running around in the background, holding a short hunting bow and having a quiver full of arrows at her belt, chasing a tiny Deku Scrub around, who just had a single leaf atop his head, the two playing together happily, the girl shooting invisible arrows at it. "Anyways, speaking of which, I came to your house, because my dad is going to the castle to deliver Chateau Romani milk and other goods, we really need to save up money before winter comes. We were wondering if you wanted to come with us. The other farmers and villagers are too chicken to come, and its dangerous along the road... But you and your brothers are fit and brave, it'd be really nice to have some extra people with us this time. Even though she doesn't look like it, Cremia is really worried about robbers lately, and my little sister, Romani, even practises with a bow to fight back." Malon continued a little shyly, her cheeks getting a little red, she looking down.

"Well, I could ask the boys if they want to come. We missed a day's work when the scrubs attacked, and my brothers wanted to take the day off, but maybe they'd be happy to go on some sightseeing. Give me a little while. Come on in." Linkle said, gesturing Malon to enter, Malon nodding with a smile but lifting a hand and moving it side to side, so Linkle nodded and went back inside.

"So, what's all this about going to a castle?" The tanned Link asked, still leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Well, I'm wondering if you boys wanna go travelling with her to the castle. It'll be nice to get a break from the farm. I'll ask the little ones." Linkle replied, and then she went inside the bedroom, hearing the children playing and laughing, smashing one another with pillows, fluff flying everywhere. Upon their big sister appearing, the little Links all stopped and looked at her, covered with fluff and feathers; the bedroom was a complete mess, blankets strewn, the drapes off the window, and clothes from the closet everywhere.

"Are we in trouble?" Little Link squeaked apologetically, lowering his arms so that the pillow he held was over his legs, Linkle surprised to see such a mess erupt from nowhere in so little time, and she just stood there silently and motionlessly. The real fight outside must have triggered the children to relive it, and play it out, and had quite a lot of energy to do all this.

"Redhead started it." Snow said, pointing at Redhead with a bent arm.

"No!" Redhead assured with a scrunched-up face, not even the bandaged wounds on his head enough to keep him down for long.

"Uh..." Linkle exclaimed, wondering what to say as she looked at the mess, the children looking down and around, wondering how they made such a mess and feeling some guilt and shame. "How's your face, Redhead?" She asked, the boy putting a hand over his bandages.

"Good." Redhead said.

"That's good. Would any of you little soldiers like to go see a castle?" Linkle asked, and immediately got the boys' attention.

"A castle?" Redhead exclaimed, mind exploding into wonder, his mouth falling open and his eyes brightening up.

"Just like in your stories?" Little Link asked curiously.

"Uh-huh! We can go with Malon and her family to the castle. She needs company, and brave kitties, for the journey. We're all stuck-up and tired of the farm, so I think a trip will be nice, if you wanna come." Linkle said.

"Yeah!" The four boys exclaimed at the same time.

"OK, let's go!" The sister said, gesturing the kids, and they went forth eagerly. As Linkle went into the living room, she noticed Leo, who was still sleeping, so she went behind the couch and pushed his head forwards, and he leaned over and snorted awake. "Waky, waky, sleepyhead, we're going out."

"Hmph? Where?" Leo asked, rubbing his eyes, but Linkle said nothing, only smiling. Malon crossed her arms and leaned on her hip.

"I'm asking you all to come along for a trip to the castle. Last time I went with dad, we lost some of our goods from robbers, but they let us go, probably to try and rob us again later. If there's more of us together, they'll think twice before stealing from us again." Malon said, feeling good that she managed to get some friends to be with her. "Oh wow, the kids grew up quite a lot since I last saw them!" Malon exclaimed once the little ones came into view, Snow smiling to her, but the three other children were quiet. Malon then looked concerned, noticing that most of the brothers had marks, cuts and swelling on their faces here and there.

"Yeah, we got beat-up by scrubs, but we beat them up, too." Sunny remarked, but he was smiling and in a good mood as he usually was. Malon put one hand over her mouth, feeling bad for the boys.

"Let's get clothes and stuff ready for the trip, for the kids, too." Linkle ordered, walking towards the bedroom. "Oh, and there's also a big mess, don't step on any of the clothes on the floor."

Soon, everyone left the house, Linkle and her six teen-aged brothers all having backpacks filled with extra clothes, supplies, and small tools. They each had a sheathed knife at their side, and at their other side, a hatchet dropped through a loop of leather at the belt so that the axe hung by its head. Linkle had two crossbows, their stocks having long straps, which she slung over her shoulders, so that the crossbows hung over either side of her backpack. Behind her sheath was a quiver filled with bolts.

The family looked around, seeing a few Mad Scrubs walking around aimlessly, but the scrubs did nothing. Linkle went to put all the chickens into the fence and then closed the fence, putting the bag of chicken feed into the hen house, putting it on its side so that the chickens could stick their heads in and eat whenever they wanted to. She also opened a second sack of feed and lied it down, so that the chickens had lots of food. As she walked through the fence, she locked the gate. Running to the scene was the redhead girl, bow in her hand, eager to see the kids who went out the house. The scrub she was chasing around had left it would seem.

"Hi!" The girl greeted once she was close to the boys, the teenagers walking along but the four youngest siblings looked at the girl. "I'm Romani, what's your names?" The child asked the four boys.

"Link." All for boys chirped at the same time, there was a pause, and then the five children all chuckled at the same time.

"Oh? That's easy to remember! Sounds like a nice name." Romani remarked, looking at the various Links and wondering what nicknames to give them, moving her hand through her hair. "Why do you all have the same name?" She asked; the boys shrugged at the same time.

"Oh, but some of us have nicknames, to tell us apart. I'm Snow, because I'm really white." Snow said as if he was the most important thing in the world; he was very excited to talk to the girl.

"I'm Redhead, 'cause I have red hair." Redhead said, stroking his bandages and hair with one hand.

"I'm Little Link, because I'm the smallest one, but I'm not the youngest. This Link is the youngest one, and he's the tallest kid!" Little Link said, looking at his black-haired brother, who made no reaction other than looking back at Little Link for a moment.

"Come on guys, we gotta go." Linkle called, the older characters having already walked a good distance away, so the children walked towards them. Redhead ran off to retrieve his hat that had been shot off during the fight, putting it on while biting his tongue, then ran back towards the group of kids.

"Nice to meet you guys, but, hmm... Too bad we have to go already. I was chasing this wooden boy around with leafy hair, but he had to go, too, went to see his mommy or something. Maybe I'll meet him again someday." Romani said as the kids walked, Redhead coming back to them.

"Ohh! Too bad you weren't here earlier, we were attacked by lots of those guys!" Snow exclaimed, angrily pointing at one of the Mad Scrubs' foliage in the ground, which lifted its head and looked around, then sunk back in the ground.

"Yeah, but we fought them off. We got hurt, but they did, too." Little Link assured; Romani giggled briefly.

"Whoa, you guys must be really brave." Romani complimented, making the boys feel like adults already. Romani pulled back her bowstring and pointing it at a Mad Scrub, bit her tongue, closed one eye, tilted her head, and released the bowstring. "Wshh!" She exclaimed, simulating an arrow.

Up ahead, the older characters reached the wagon, the driver looking quite glad yet worried. The wagon was made to transport people and goods, and so had a roof, walls on the sides, and a bench along both the sides of the inside.

"I guess it's been a while since we last had some extra company!" Cremia, the driver, exclaimed.

"Yeah, don't be too worried, Cremia! With this many people with us, no robbers will attack us this time." Malon said optimistically.

"Especially now that we have knives and hatchets, I doubt anyone will be robbing us!" Linkle said, patting the head of her hatched. "Um, where's Talon?" She asked.

"Oh, Talon, and Ingo and his uncles, went off to talk to the nearby villages here, see what's going on and ask for help. I doubt they'll get many volunteers to come with us, especially during autumn, and more so that we can't really pay anyone for their help until we sell our produce at the market. It's like people are so selfish nowadays." Malon replied.

"So it's up to good people to save the people who can't be good for themselves." Linkle remarked, Malon nodding.

"OK then, everyone get in the wagon, we'll be heading off soon. Talon and his boys should be joining us down the road sooner or later." Cremia said, grasping the reins as everyone else climbed into the wagon. The wagon was loaded with crates of jarred milk, as well as sacks and pots of stuff. Once everyone was in the wagon, Cremia reined her horses to move, and so the trip began.


	5. Chapter 5 - Somewhere Along the Road

**Chapter 5**

 **Somewhere Along the Road**

The wagon rode down the slightly foggy road amidst the slightly foggy woods, some birds and chipmunks making noise here and there, passing a few homesteads off in the distance. A while later, a few horsemen appeared, trotting along single-file loosely, catching up to the wagon steadily, the kids inside it looking out the back to see the riders.

Following behind were three riders, on rather ordinary horses, sitting on ordinary saddles. These horsemen had broad, large moustaches and eyebrows, and had short hair, wearing overalls, shirts and boots. One wore white overalls, the next wore blue overalls, and the last wore yellow overalls. These riders wore backpacks, and had knives and hatchets at their belts. Curiously enough, two riders wielded long pitchforks in their right hand, the one in white, and the other in yellow. The pitchforks were longer than a man was tall, and were probably used as improvised lances, in case any threat was stumbled upon. The mounted farmers looked like grumpy fellows, and seemed to be quietly and unintelligibly arguing and complaining about something, and then they looked back.

The last rider, off in the distance, was a large-bellied burly fellow, who wore blue overalls, a red shirt, and big shoes, as well as a backpack for the trip, and had a carving knife sheathed at his belt, and a woodcutting wedged axe at his other side. He featured a full beard, a small ponytail, and was getting bald at the top of the head. His horse was quite big and fat as well, with dark brown fur, blue eyes, and large hooves, the perfect steed for such a large rider. He was, apparently, sleeping while on horseback, head and shoulders low, movement of the horse causing him to sway a bit. Considering that the horse was only walking, the steed seemed to be at least less lazy than his rider, often looking at the grass at either side of the road, and wishing he could just eat it all.

"Hn! Why did we even bring that lazy bum Talon with us? He doesn't even do anything." The rider in white complained, referring to the big fellow at the back of the group. The fat man in blue remained asleep, making a snore, and then a snort.

"Fn, mnuh... Mm, uhmm." The fat man, Talon, mumbled in his sleep, rubbing his nose without opening his eyes, and went back into deep sleep. His horse sniffled while shaking his head briefly, and yawned.

"Should have left him behind at his ranch, he isn't even a real horseman." The rider in yellow whined, scratching his back with his pitchfork.

"He's not, and we are the real-deal for horsemanship, we'd be better off without him." The rider in blue bickered along, and a crow fly overhead, cawing.

"Stupid crow." The rider in white grumbled, looking up at the crow for a moment, and when he looked away, the crow flew off cawing even louder. The three riders' nagging caused Malon to be a little upset, but she did not make much of a reaction other than lowing her head and keeping her face stolid. Leo was sleeping himself, arms crossed and head tilted, but his other teen-aged siblings noticed, but the kids at the back of the wagon chatted and played along, Romani showing her bow and arrows to the kids.

"I've been practising a lot lately!" The girl exclaimed with a giggle, moving a hand through her hair. The bow was of relatively low draw weight, and the arrows more suitable for target practise than anything else, but it was still a means to shoot pointy sticks at things.

"Hmm... Ingo, Norman and Herman are still whining about your dad?" Linkle asked, Malon nodded.

"I just hate how they never say it to father's face. I know father is lazy and careless, but he's not a bad guy, he is a very strong man, he could work a lot, but he's just, well... Indolent." Malon replied, looking at her sleeping dad down the road, and also seeing the dismissive shaking of the other riders' heads.

"Hey, what happened to Gorman, anyways?" Linkle asked, noticing that one of Ingo's uncles was missing, trying to change the subject, but Malon did not know and just shrugged, kids happily chatting in the back.

"Hm? Oh, he went off on show business somewhere a few years ago, I guess he just had enough of a rancher's life. He's as grumpy as his brothers, but he's still better than they." Cremia remarked from the front of the wagon, turning her head as she spoke, Norman and Herman tilting their moustaches; their oversized cocked eyebrows did not help make them look any smarter.

The little caravan continued going down the road, wheels rolling, the horses' hooves clapping against the earth, and then the forest soon coming to life with chirping birds, squeaking chipmunks, and a few insects flying around. Ingo and the Gorman Brothers were still angry but kept looking around warily, as if expecting something bad to happen. But nothing happened, yet. Ingo overheard some low whistling in the woods, but he just made a high-pitched grunt and shook his head.

Between two large oak trees, a Mad Scrub appeared, rising out the ground and looking around, leafage rustling, and a moth flying onto the being's face for a moment before fluttering off, the scrub watching it fly away. It noticed the wagon riding along, and then horsemen following it, but did not seem to care. The scrub sneezed suddenly, tubular nose wiggling, the woody creature shaking its head while sniffling.

The angry-looking horsemen gave the scrub a nasty look as they passed it, the Mad Scrub waiting patiently. Once Ingo and the Gorman Brothers were no longer looking at the Deku Scrub, the wooden being spat a nut, and it hit the back of of the rider wearing yellow overalls with an audible knock. He put a hand behind his head and looked around angrily, wondering what just happened, as did the other two cranky riders, seeing the nut rolling along the ground. The Mad Scrub wriggled out the ground and jumped up in the air, sticking his legs out forwards midair and letting off a squeak, to get the grumpy riders' attention.

"Why, you little..." The rider in yellow overalls spat, and then turned his horse to direct it to trot towards the Mad Scrub; meanwhile, Talon was still asleep, and falling behind. The rider in yellow gripped his pitchfork tightly, though the Mad Scrub was undaunted and stood its ground.

"Herman, don't go trailing off the path, that stupid tree isn't worth our time." Ingo said aloud, but the rider in yellow overalls shook his head, intending to stab the annoying scrub with his pitchfork. The scrub spat three nuts consecutively, one hitting Herman's horse's chest—causing it to lift its head and get angry—and then he leaning over the side of the saddle to dodge the two other nuts, which flew passed him and arched onto the road.

Once close enough, Herman began poking at the scrub, but the little guy kept oscillating around on his feet, moving as if a fly buzzing with its legs, and easily evaded the pitchfork as it stabbed into just earth. Personal failure irritated Herman, who then pursued the prancing thing about. Ingo noticed and shook his head, but said nothing, overhearing a few kids chuckling.

"You know, your yellow brother reminds me of a dragonfly, with his yellow skin and red eyes." Romani whispered to Snow's ear, who sat beside her, but Snow made no reaction. He did have a hunch that Romani was saying something to him, but being partly deaf, he did not hear her. The three other young Links leaned in to listen, everyone else either chatting about other things or just listening, though Leo was still asleep.

"Hunh, what?" Snow asked, facing Romani, who looked a little surprised.

"I said your older brother, the one with yellow skin and red eyes, he looks kinda like a dragonfly. And your black brother, he looks like a beetle." Romani said, having never seen people born with such conditions, and so was a bit uneasy about them.

"Oh? And what do I look like?" Snow asked happily, and the question caused Romani to pause.

"Um, I dunno, you don't see white bugs that often." Romani replied, trying to imagine a bug that was commonly white.

"Ha! And if we wore green, we'd look like grasshoppers!" Redhead exclaimed, and the children chuckled at his eagerness to say that, Romani closing her eyes and revealing her teeth as she laughed.

Cremia turned her head to check on the wagon, and was happy to see that everything was going well. It was mostly Linkle and Malon talking about this and that. Cremia noticed that Dreadlocks, the tanned brother, and the child with black hair were very quiet. The brother with dreadlocks kept staring at Malon when she wasn't looking. Cremia made a small smile at that, and faced forwards. She then looked down and looked a little sad for a few seconds, then brightened up and seemed pleased.

"Hey! Herman!" The grumpy rider in blue barked, turning his head back. "Quite playing with scrubs, get back here!"

"Shut up, Norman!" Herman shouted back from the woods, and then he continued trying to stab his pitchfork into the Mad Scrub while pulling on the reins in his other hand violently, tugging at his mount's mouth and stressing the beast out, but the Mad Scrub kept running away on the last moment and dodged the prongs every single time, and would then pause and look up at the grumpy rancher, which made him angrier.

"Let the idiot vent his frustration, he'll eventually lose steam and come back." Ingo remarked, making a dismissive wave with his free hand, and then overhearing Talon snoring. "Hmph! I can't believe that that lazy snoring bum Talon is the owner of a ranch; only hard-working people deserve to be owners." He continued.

"Maybe you should come work at our ranch, then?" Norman suggested, but Ingo shook his head.

"I'd rather have my own property, I'll work hard for it, I'm hard-working, I can do it." Ingo assured.

"Like that'll ever happen." Norman scoffed.

"Eh? I'll show you then! Maybe, you and your stupid brother will be the ones ending up worknig for me!" Ingo scoffed back, and the two got into a silly unintelligible argument, and Talon continued sleeping on horseback, his horse occasionally moving its head towards grass to try and take a bite while walking, but was always too lazy and gave-up.

Overhearing the bickering, Cremia shook her head, but her passengers largely ignored the grumpy ranchers trotting along. Cremia felt her mouth get heavy and was about to yawn, but she stifled her yawn, as she saw ten people emerge from the woods suddenly, who wore hooded coats left open at the front. Lifting her shoulders from fear, Cremia had a bad feeling, but did nothing, feeling her heart gradually beat with greater vigour into her throat, for the ten figures carried knives that had blades as long as sword blades, and also had cross-guards. Bandits?


	6. Chapter 6 - The Bandits Attack

**Chapter 6**

 **The Bandits Attack**

The ten hooded figures were each armed with a grosse messer, a kind of two-handed, single-edged slightly curved sword with a cross-guard but a handle in the likeness of a handgrip for a knife. Such blades were perfect weapons for robbers, being cheaper to make than real swords and having excellent cutting potential. A few of the hooded figures wore sleeveless shirts, and had muscular arms. One of the men had his hood down, he having a full beard and scruffy hair, revealing that he was not a Hylian, for his ears were rounded and not long, and he did not have a cartoony visage; he put his hood up and gestured the others to get moving. These men were larger and taller than the average Hylian was.

Well, Cremia's mouth dropped as the ten men went out the woods, murmuring amongst themselves for a while, and then they ran in front of the horses, causing the two at the front to rear, and the two behind them to neigh and shake their heads.

The passengers of the wagon muttered in some surprise as the wagon went to a halt, the kids becoming silent, but Leo remained asleep. Linkle and Malon stood and walked to the front of the wagon, standing behind Cremia to see what was going on. The three young women just watched as the robbers split up, a few bandits blocking the horses, and the others running around the wagon to get at the back.

"Get back!" Linkle cried at the kids, who just sat idle not knowing what was going on, and then several of the bandits appeared, holding their grosse messers high, three jumping into the wagon. Linkle just stood, hoping that nothing would happen her youngest brothers, and the passengers just froze. The bandits who jumped into the wagon left the kids alone and said nothing, but they sheathed their messers and began unpacking the stuff in the wagon, throwing crates and stuff out for their friends to catch.

"Hey!" Romani squeaked angrily, but Malon held her back with an inhale, too afraid to do anything.

"Leo! Wake up!" Dreadlocks exclaimed, shaking his lazy brother, Leo snorting and then waking up, wonder what was going on.

"Hey! They're stealing the stuff!" Snow cried, pointing at the armed thieves while some saliva dripped out his mouth. Although the wagon was rather cramped, all the Links suddenly sprang to action, withdrawing their hatchets and brandishing them, which made the robbers in the wagon flinch.

"I fight!" The little Link with black hair exclaimed, drop-kicking one of the robbers in the head, which staggered the man, and the two others stood upright and hesitated, the bandits outside the wagon also hesitating.

"Get 'em!" Redhead shouted, and then the brothers started chopping their hatchets at the robbers. Since the robbers were surrounded already, they had no means to defend themselves from the surprise attack, the three bandits dropping whatever they were carrying as the hatchets thudded against their bodies, the little Links attacking the bandits' legs and the older Links attacking the bandits' upper bodies. The hatchets were rather small and not sharp, and having thick heads, did not really cut much, essentially serving as semi-edged clubs, but they still hurt and beat-up the bandits pretty bad!

The three bandits skipped around from the attacks and unsheathed their messers, so Leo, Raven and the tanned Link sprang forth, getting up-close to the three bandits (the other brothers stopping hacking their hatchets) so that they had no room to use their great knives. Leo grabbed a bandit so that one arm was under the bandit's legs and along his back, and Leo's other arm under the bandit's shoulder, and lifting the him up, Leo tossed the bandit clean out the wagon without too much trouble. Raven and the tanned brother, with the help of a few other brothers, pushed the two other bandits out the wagon.

The bandits outside put their stolen things down and gripped their messers in both hands upon seeing the action, finally snapping out of their surprise (for robbers relied on intimidation rather than courage) and a few leaping into the wagon, but were knocked back midair by hatchet-wielding Links, who also kicked and stomped at the bandits as they tried to climb the wagon. A few bandits swung their grosse messers into the wagon while standing on the ground, trying to lop off some legs, but the Links, already being in the wager, dodged the sweeps easily; when the bandits swung high, their blades were parried by the teenagers' hatchets and then kicked in the face.

The passengers saw Ingo and Norman a good distance away down the road, who meanwhile had obviously seen what was going on up ahead, and were surprised.

"Herman! Herman! Hey! Herman, get back here, there's robber stealing from the wagon!" Norman yelled, Ingo already galloping down the road, smacking his horse's rump continuously and holding his pitchfork so that it was alongside his horse. Herman overheard his brother calling, gave the Mad Scrub a nasty look, and ran out the woods.

"That's right! You run away!" The Mad Scrub squeaked victoriously, jumping up and down like an idiot for a second.

"Shut up!" Herman barked as he left the woods, a branch hitting him across the face as he trotted off, the Mad Scrub squealing with delight.

Back at the wagon, as the Links fought off the bandits, Linkle turned around, wondering why Cremia wasn't doing anything.

"Go!" Linkle cried, going to the front of the wagon and smacking Cremia in the shoulder, causing her to jump from fight, "Go! Go! Get the horses running!" Linkle continued, screeching in Cremia's ear.

"Hyah!" Cremia shouted, whipping the reins, and the four horses sparked into activity, all of them rearing slightly at the same time and whinnying, and then they moved forwards, jerking the wagon to life, and off it rode. The whiplash caused two bandits who were climbing into the wagon to fall backwards down to the ground, the Links fending the other bandits off as they tried to get into the wagon, and little Romani managing to grab an empty milk bottle and smashing it over a bandit's head, causing him to bend back and roll out the wagon, blood leaking out his head.

The bandits in front of the horses ran off to get out of the way as the wagon drove, but one managed to jump upon one of the horses, trying to steer it off-course and disrupt the wagon. Linkle, who had unslung one of her crossbows, loaded it, aimed over Cremia's shoulder, Cremia leaning away from the crossbow, and Linkle pulled the trigger, shooting the bandit in the back of the head, the bolt thudding as it met his skull. The bandit grabbed the back of his head and fell off the saddle, Cremia pulling on the reins to realign the direction of the horses so that they ran along the road.

As the wagon rode away, the bandits chased after it, the Links brandishing their hatchets to intimidate the pursuing bandits, who would have a tough time getting into the wagon without getting hurt! Unable to keep up with the wagon, which was going faster and faster, the bandits soon gave-up. They then overheard galloping, and spun around, seeing Ingo and the Gorman Brothers galloping down the road as if they wanted to kill their horses.

"Hoowuahh!" The grumpy riders shouted repeatedly as they galloped, dust flowing behind their horses like a whirlwind, their horses frothing at the mouth. Ingo, being at the front, slightly leaned sideways over his saddle and swung his pitchfork in one hand in an underhand manner upwards, striking a panicking bandit in the sternum and knocking him over with such force he dropped his sword, Ingo feeling his pitchfork bounce back from impact, and then his horse charged through the bandits, most of whom skipped to get out of the way.

Norman charged towards the bandits, leaning forwards and standing on the stirrups to maximize speed, two of the bandits standing apart and pulling their swords back, intending to swing them low and cut into Norman's horse's legs. Seeing that coming, Norman had his horse jump on the last moment, jumping over the blades swung at his horse's legs, and then he galloped off to safety, looking back.

Herman charged immediately afterwards, one bandit swinging his messer into him, so Herman stuck his pitchfork out, the prongs catching the sword and blocking its path, and the inertia of the horse caused the pitchfork to continue lunging into the bandit's chest, knocking him off his feet. Herman pulled his pitchfork out the bandit as his horse passed him.

Up ahead, the bandit Linkle shot in the head sat up, pulling the bolt out his skull, and then Ingo galloped passed him, frightening the bandit. The bandit stood up, and Norman deliberately rode his horse so that its chest struck the bandit across the head and knocked him over. Herman galloped by as well.

Far behind, Talon's horse trotted along lazily, having a hunch that it was supposed to go faster, but too lazy to do so. Despite wobbling around on the saddle, Talon remained asleep, occasionally mumbling something. Several bandits who were not too wounded noticed, and eager for some revenge at such easy prey, charged Talon's horse at the same time, jumping into it and swinging their swords. Everything was to no affect, and Talon's fleshy steed simply trotted on as if nothing had happened, the bandits and their blades simply bouncing off the horse as if it were a brick wall. Talon snorted but remained asleep, swaying a little as his horse trotted along, the bandits wondering what just happened.

The wagon rode on, the horses slowing down to a trot, Ingo, Norman and Herman going passed the fallen stolen goods and about to reach the wagon, but Talon was still rather far behind. Malon put her hands on Romani's shoulders and asked if she was OK, the girl nodding, frowning and looking a little nervous, but her eyes were excited.

"Who the heck were they?" Ingo asked aloud, looking back, his heart racing.

"I don't know, they just ran out the forest all of a sudden!" Cremia exclaimed, Malon looking out the wagon to check on her dad, and sighed with relief when she saw him.

"Ingo, you should go wake up father, he's still sleeping." Malon whined.

"Ehh? Bah! That lazy bum... Let him wake himself up!" Ingo spat, Malon frowning.

"I'm surprised he wasn't pulled off his horse, beaten, and robbed." Norman remarked, turning his back and wondering how Talon made it passed the robbers.

The bandits were hurt and unwilling to do anything, so they went off back into the woods, carrying the few wounded men by the arms.

"Ha! We showed them!" Little Link squeaked.

"Yeah we did, good job guys!" Sunny remarked happily, Malon sighed with relief, then she turned her head and looked at Dreadlocks, who was staring at her, but then he looked away from her quickly, a little red at the cheeks, but Malon paid no attention.

"Maybe we should go back and pick up the stuff we lost?" Romani asked.

"Let them have what they took, it'll keep them away from us. I am not stopping this wagon for any reason, in case there are more bandits." Cremia replied nervously, and at that, twenty horsemen suddenly appeared, galloping out in-between the trees, branches shaking about.

The twenty horsemen wore brigandines or jacks, a kind of armour consisting of little iron plates sewn within a canvas and worn like a coat. They also wore visorless bascinets, greaves, and jack-chains down the arms. The horsemen were equipped with spears, which they held in their right hand whilst gripping the reins with their left hand, but they also had a sheathed short sword and dagger.

These twenty horsemen were definitely not Hylians, looking like the bandits, but were obviously soldiers of some faction. Spotting the wagon driving off, the twenty riders galloped down the road and headed straight for it!


	7. Chapter 7 - Coustiliers

**Chapter 7**

 **Coustiliers**

Everything went from bad to worse. The sight of twenty armed and armoured horsemen caught everyone else by surprise, Malon, Cremia, Romani, Snow, Ingo, and the Gorman Brothers turning to look back, and saw the twenty armed horsemen galloping towards them. The riders at the front couched their spears, but the rest gripped their spears so that they faced diagonally upwards.

These horsemen were called coustiliers, named after the short swords they carried, being armoured soldiers but also raiders mounted on fast horses. It was their task to harass and raid in enemy territory, and pursue weaker or fleeing forces. They galloped after the wagon in a loose but narrow rectangular formation, taking up all the space along the ground along and beside the road. The Norman, Herman and Ingo continued following the wagon from behind of course, but as for Talon, well, he was way behind everyone including the twenty other horsemen, and was still sleeping.

"SHHHOOOT!" Ingo yelled at the sight of the twenty mounted soldiers, angry, disappointed, and nervous at the same time.

"Where the hell did they come from!" Norman cried.

"They must be foreign soldiers raiding the countryside, obviously!" Herman yelled.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious! Of course they are soldiers!" Norman shouted.

"Then why did you even ask!" Herman shouted back, and then the Gorman Brothers got into incomprehensible bickering amidst the chase, Ingo turning forwards on his steed. It was obvious that the Hylians had horses that were both larger and stronger than the soldiers' steeds, however, the coustiliers had faster horses, who galloped quickly despite carrying armoured riders.

"Keep riding, they have smaller and faster horses, but our horses are larger and stronger, and are not carrying armoured riders, so we will eventually outlast them with endurance!" Ingo shouted, which got his uncles to stop arguing about nothing; although they rode horses ordinary in Hyrule, standard Hylian horses were quite large and powerful nonetheless. Meanwhile, inside the wagon, the kids and women were nervous, but unflinching.

"I can't see my father, where is he?" Malon asked nervously, putting a hand to her mouth, concerned about her dad's safety, but she could not see Talon, as he was way behind everyone else here. Dreadlocks and Linkle looked at Malon, but did not know what to say. The young Link with black hair looked eager, eyes big and bright, and he pulled out his hatchet from his belt, gripping it so tightly his knuckles whitened.

"They don't have any shields." Linkle pointed out, and then she handed one of her crossbows to Malon as well as a handful of bolts. "Use it." Linkle said, and then she went to the front of the wagon, Cremia briefly looking back to her. "Keep the wagon going!"

"Like you have to tell me!" Cremia exclaimed without fear. Linkle then jumped up from the so that she could climb atop the wagon, pulling herself up to its roof. Crawling to the back of the roof of the wagon, she knelt, feeling the racing wagon cause her own body and knees to shake, aiming her crossbow, and shot it, feeling the whiplash tug the stock forward as the stave was relieved from its tension.

Having seen the young woman with a crossbow, the pursuing horsemen at the front lowered their heads, presenting the tops of their helms forwards, so that they wouldn't get shot in the face, for they could not dodge while riding a horse easily. The bolt sped through the air and struck one rider's helmet, bouncing off the top and leaving a narrow dent in it. The impact hurt the horseman but not much else, he shaking his head, feeling his helmet and chinstraps sway against the padded hood underneath.

While Linkle reloaded her crossbow, the hooves of all the horses thundered against the ground, and the wagon drove along a curve in the road, Romani sprang to action, standing tall before the ledge of the flooring, nocked an arrow, lifted her bow, pushed the stave forwards while also leaning forwards a little, to aim better, and released the arrow. The little arrow whizzed passed a horse's ear and bounced off the rider's jack-of-plates, and did nothing.

"For the love of the Goddesses, shoot their horses!" Ingo shouted angrily, which was not something anyone wanted to do. The horses of the enemy were innocent, only doing their task of running, and the concern and sadness on the faces of the girls and boys was evident. "Do it! We have no choice!" Ingo yelled, and then turned his back, for the galloping coustiliers were now closing in on everyone, just a few metres behind them!

Spearheads and helmets glinting under the sunlight, hooves of the horses pounding against the earth, and the wagon and its wheels shaking a little, Linkle had some difficulty reloading her crossbow, as the wagon was now turning with another curve in the road, and the inertia caused her to lean to the side and nearly lose balance. Meanwhile, Romani was shooting arrows, and quite accurately too, for she was a natural archer, but her arrows simply bounced off helmets and armour, and did nothing, but at least the projectiles harassed the coustiliers.

Herman and Ingo turned their backs and presented their pitchforks, stabbing them behind themselves at those chasing after them, who in turn thrust their spears forth, but they only stabbed into the backpacks of the mounted ranchers. Norman, who was without any weapon, could not do much, a knife on horseback was not a reasonable weapon to use. As one coustilier lunged his spear, Norman got his horse to jump at the same time, and while midair, his horse kicked his back legs back, horseshoes smacking into the coustilier's horse's face, causing it to shake its head in pain while neighing.

Ingo and Herman continued lunging their pitchforks backwards as they rode, somewhat fencing the spears and slightly knocking them aside, the prongs sometimes catching the spearheads and stopping the spear completely.

Malon felt herself shaking, but she had to do to save herself and her friends. She aimed her crossbow, the coustiliers lowering their heads, hiding behind their horses' heads while pointing their spears forwards and pricking their horses to go faster. Malon aimed low and shot her crossbow, intending to shoot the bolt into a horse's leg and so disable it, but she missed; the bolt dug into the earth and the horses ran over it.

The coustiliers galloping down the middle of the road reached the back of the wagon, so much that four riders' horses' heads were actually inside the wagon! The Links withdrew their axes and got ready, the child Link with black hair biting his tongue, and Redhead furrowing his eyebrows. As such, now up-close to the wagon, the four soldiers began lunging their spears repeatedly into the wagon, Romani ducking as a spear lunged over her head.

"Kids, get back!" Raven yelled, grabbing Romani under the arms and carrying her back, and then the teenagers started pulling their child siblings away from the back of the wagon, the child Link with black hair and Redhead mumbling their displeasure.

The teen-aged Links then gripped their hatchets so that one hand was under the axehead, and one hand at the butt, so that they could parry with the middle of the helve, and in this manner, knocked aside the spears lunging at them. They also kicked into the sides or under the incoming spearheads, to kick them away. Malon used the stock of her crossbow to parry spears lunging at her, but from this activity, was unable to reload the crossbow.

"Oh my god! They are persistent little brats, hunh?" One of the nearby coustiliers remarked, referring to the relentlessness of the passengers.

"Good! I love a tough fight!" Another coustilier remarked, lunging his spear repeatedly at the passengers, who always parried his stabs, which annoyed him.

Not wanting to hurt the horses, yet the riders being too far away, and their spears being a constant spike to keep the passengers back, the Links resorted to pushing the coustiliers' horses' faces back, to irritate them and so slightly stifle the speed of their galloping, as well as feint attacks into the horses' heads to unnerve them, but the horses just started biting back!

Pulling his hands back, Leo rather rudely shoved his way through his brothers, pushing aside Dreadlocks and his tanned brother, and then sent a hook punch across a horse's jaw, dazing it, and the horse's head wobbled a bit. The rider thrust his spear at Leo, who caught it in his left hand, the two struggling a little, Raven, Cougar and Sunny stepping forth and parrying the three other riders' spears, and then Leo then, still grasping the coustilier's spear, threw his hatchet, the small axe spinning passed the horse's head and hitting the rider in the face, blade digging into his cheekbone.

Blood leaking down his face, the rider let go of the reins and pulled the hatchet out his face, dropping it, and that was when Leo managed to pull the coustilier's spear out his hands. Leo then lunged the butt spike of the spear into the coustilier's face, knocking him; since the coustilier had let go of the reins to pull the axe out his cheekbone, Leo's strike caused the coustilier to lean back, feet still in the stirrups. Lunging the butt spike of the spear again, Leo struck the stunned coustilier in the throat with such force he lost balance and fell off his horse. Hitting the ground and rolling along, the horses behind jumped over him; the riderless horse continued galloping along, happy to have some weight off his back.

Leo, having lost his hatchet, rearranged his spear so that the spearhead pointed forwards, and then he began moving the spearhead in a circular motion, so that he could disarray the other spears lunging forth. Since Leo held the spear with both hands, and was quite powerful, and the coustiliers gripped their spears in only one hand, Leo's stance and grip was by far superior to the coustiliers' and he suppressed their attacks easily while jabbing at their faces and shins repeatedly.

Leo keeping the three mounted spearmen busy, Romani managed to squeeze in-between the Links, nocking an arrow, and being so short, she shot her arrow upwards, shooting a coustilier in the mouth, the arrowhead probably breaking a few teeth and giving him enough pain to turn in his seat.

"Eat it!" Romani squealed triumphantly, giving the air a fist pump.

"Nice shot Romani!" Snow screamed in Romani's ear, causing her to jump and look at him, Snow not noticing that, though.

Leo took the advantage and thrust his spear into the shot coustilier's shinbone, which was unprotected by armour, and hurt him there. A few more stabs into his face and legs repelled him, and he made his horse slow down and soon lose the chance, but was replaced by another coustilier who galloped into the gap, throwing his spear into the wagon like a javelin! The spear cut across Leo's shoulder, missed Raven, Sunny, and Little Link, and thudded against a crate, sticking into it.

Little Link pulled the spear out of the crate after some difficulty, eager to do his part in the fight, and threw it over those in front of him back at the coustiliers, his brothers and Malon leaning aside to get out of the way with a gasp, the horsemen leaning off to the sides to dodged the thrown spear, which arched between them and was knocked aside by a horseman behind them by smashing it with his own spear to divert its direction, where it stabbed into the ground elsewhere.

Redhead, eager to get into the fray upon seeing Little Link's heroism, grabbed a ferocious bottle of milk and threw it over his brothers, where it smashed against the coustilier's (who threw the spear, having unsheathed his short sword) helm, spilling milk over his face, causing him to let go of the reins for a moment and rub the milk off his face. Romani did him a favour and shot an arrow in his face, the arrowhead embedding in his cheekbone with an audible wet crack, the sudden pain forcing him to grab the arrow and rip it out angrily.

Up above, Linkle had reloaded her crossbow, a few coustiliers by this time having reached the sides of the wagon, and standing in their stirrups, began stabbing their spears upward at her, so she kicked aside a spear aimed for her leg, and then shot her crossbow at her attacker, the bolt going through the end of his sleeve and into his right forearm, for his brigandine did not cover any lower than the biceps. The pain and injury nullified the coustilier's right hand, and from that, dropped his spear, putting his right arm across himself, and trailed off. Linkle grinned.

"That's what you get!" Linkle shouted, liking the thrill. How could she be afraid? She was one of the holders of the Triforce of Courage, after all. Malon managed to reload her crossbow and shot it over the Links' heads, aiming for the heads of the enemy horsemen, but missed, having aimed too high.

"Ha! You missed!" Snow exclaimed, Malon looking at him, wondering what his problem was.

The next coustilier then thrust his spear at Leo in anger, Leo leaning to the side and parrying with the shaft of his spear, and then thrust it into the rider's face, in-between the eyes, spearhead stabbing into his skull and dazing him. Leo pushed the spear forwards farther, and so pushed the coustilier's head back, forcing him to let go of the reins and grab the spear in his face. Leo pulled his spear back and then thrust it forwards again with all his might, but the coustilier lowered his head and his helm received Leo's spearhead, which glanced off it.

Having reloaded her crossbow, Linkle shot the coustilier Leo attacked in the top of the knee, he shouting in pain and grabbing his knee, and then he grimaced and threw his spear like a javelin at Linkle, the girl sinking her head and lifting her shoulders, clenching her teeth and showing them, leaning back, feeling the spear rise through her cleavage, until she fell on her back, seeing the spear arch over her and then hit the ground somewhere.

"Ugh! That was close!" Linkle cried, breathing hard, feeling her heart trying to jump out her rib cage. Linkle sat up and began reloading her crossbow, wondering when this hot pursuit would end!


	8. Chapter 8 - Out of the Forest

**Chapter 8**

 **Out of the Forest**

As for Ingo, Norman and Herman, unable to fight back against the pursuers, resorted to smacking the rumps of their horses aggressively and repeatedly, putting their steeds into a faster gallop to escape the coustiliers. While Ingo and the Gorman brothers sped forth, Ingo to the right of the wagon, and the Gorman Brothers to the left of the wagon, the ranchers gradually passed the wagon, Cremia looking side to side for a moment and noticing the mounted ranchers, soon followed by three coustiliers at each side of the wagon.

Linkle shot another bolt, hitting a soldier wearing a hauberk in the upper chest, but the bolt simply got caught amidst the links of the mail shirt, and failed to penetrate it. The mail-clad coustilier, ignoring the bolt hanging from its head in his mail shirt, turned closer to the wagon, sticking his spear out to try and trip one of Cremia's horses.

The other coustiliers followed suite and harassed the horses pulling the wagon, so Cremia pulled on the reins and got her horses to turn to the side, wagon suddenly moving to the side and causing Linkle to lose balance and roll over just as she was about to shoot her crossbow again, and as the wagon moved to the side, the size and weight pushed the three mounted soldiers' horses off the road and deeper into the shrubby ground beside the road, forcing those horses to slow down.

Linkle got up, and then Cremia turned her wagon again, to the other side to drive off the three other coustilier at the other side, and again the movement caused Linkle to fall off her feet and roll along the top of the wagon, nearly sliding off it.

"Look out!" One of the coustiliers cried as the wagon and its wheels moved into his frightened horse, driving the three horses off the road, one of their horses running into a hole and tripping from it, sending the rider flying into the earth headfirst.

The movement of the wagon also disarrayed the four horses up-close behind the wagon, and they broke off from that. Four other coustilier galloped forth to take their place behind the wagon, Romani shooting a few arrows at them, Malon by this time having reloaded her crossbow and shot it, the bolt sticking into a soldier's brigandine but failing to pierce the small plates of iron underneath the fabric. The four coustiliers flipped their spears to hold them in an overhand manner, and then prepared to throw them.

"Watch out!" Sunny screamed as the first two spears were thrown, he ending up catching one of the spears in his left hand, feeling the shaft slide along his palm and the spearhead stopping just before his face, Leo parrying the other spear with his spear but the thrown one just shifted direction and stabbed into the wall of the wagon right beside Dreadlocks' head.

"Well, that was close." Dreadlocks mumbled plainly.

"Too bad it didn't hit you in the face!" Snow exclaimed, leaning forwards and looking up at his older brother with a happy, bright face for some reason, Dreadlocks giving him a raised eyebrow. Romani replied by shooting a few arrows quickly at the coustiliers, but they bounced off their helmets, much to her frustration, Romani gritting her teeth, furrowing her eyebrows, and briefly growling like an angry puppy, then flinched as the next spears were thrown through the air.

The two spears flew into the wagon, everyone skipping around like frightened grasshoppers, one spear cutting across Raven's cheek, drawing blood, and then thumping against the floor, and the shaft of the other spear glancing off Leo's head, propelling it up, the spear then arching over Cremia's shoulder and stabbing into the ground between her horses; she flinched from that! The wagon rode on, hitting the spear out the ground and one wheel driving over it, the bump causing Linkle atop the wagon to, once again lose balance, but this time she regained herself by bending both knees and so stabilized herself.

While Leo rubbed his head, and Raven held his cheek, the coustiliers who had thrown their spears unsheathed their short swords and galloped on, however, by this time, the coustiliers' horses kept their mouths open and were breathing heavily, now winded. It was only a matter of time before the soldiers' steeds ran out of energy, feeling strain from having to carry armoured riders while galloping. Malon by this time had reloaded her crossbow and shot it at a coustilier, but he leaned over in his saddle and dodged the bolt.

Eager to get revenge, Raven waited for the horsemen to ride closer, and then threw his hatchet at them, the axe rotating through the air and the head hitting a coustilier in the front of the helmet. With all the weight at the end of the handle, the hatchet's impact was quite strong, and caused the rider to rear his head. Then, Linkle did him a favour and shot the rider in the face as he reared back, bolt thudding against his eyebrow, and at that, he soon broke off from the other horsemen.

Malon had also reloaded her crossbow by this time and aimed it in-between the tanned Link and Cougar, shooting the bolt between them, which ended up going into a coustilier's shin, he letting off a brief cry of pain and keeping the injured leg loose and lifted off the stirrup. Leo stood in the centre of the back of the wagon, gripping his spear with both hands to continuously jab at the faces of the approaching horses, holding them back and unnerving them. To further intimidation, the other teen-aged Links brandished their hatchets as if to throw them every few seconds, which gave some stress to the pursuing horses and their riders.

"Come on! Let's see if you're man enough to try fighting us again!" Cougar taunted.

"Yeah! Come on!" Little Link joined with a jump, and the kids celebrated for a few seconds even though they did not do much, and could not have done much, as their older brothers were always in their way.

Sunny stood to Leo's left, Sunny gripping the spear thrown at him in both hands, to repeatedly jab at the horses and riders when able. Raven pulled the spear throwna t him out the floor and stood at Leo's right. As such, the three brothers were now spearmen, who could harass their pursuers with longer weapons.

The coustiliers sometimes parried the spearheads with their short swords, but being armoured, they had little to fear, as whenever the spearheads struck their armour, nothing really happened, and it was difficult to thrust into their faces, as they simply would lean back in their saddles and knock aside the spears with their swords.

Meanwhile, Malon and Romani continued shooting projectiles in-between the brothers, which did frighten them a little, but they trusted the girls. Atop the wagon, Linkle continued shooting at anything, and being a good shooter, often did not miss, however, her bolts failed to pierce helmets or body armour, but bolts into the helmets did daze the enemies a little. The two crossbow-wielding lades were feeling strain in their arms and back from reloading crossbows, Malon getting a little stiff, but Linkle was alright, used to using crossbows. Everyone did their best not to harm the horses, and managed that very well.

The projectiles forced the soldiers to lean side to side and lower their heads, but some projectiles still hit their helmets or armoured shoulders. Aiming carefully, Malon shot another bolt just as one of the soldiers parried Sunny's spear, and the bolt thudded against his eyebrow; he dropped his spear, grabbing the bolt, and leaned over his saddle. Malon's eyes became big, as if regretting what she had done.

Up ahead was a clearing in the forest, opening up into Hyrule Field, with many inactive Deku Babas growing here and there. Ingo, Herman and Norman had galloped to there to stay away from danger, and had stopped up there, giving their horses a break. Although several enemy horsemen were taken out of action one way or another, ten continued the pursuit, one of them catching up to the horses pulling the wagon, he having thrown his spear earlier, hauberk jingling as he galloped on, and he gripped his short sword and raised it, intending to cut into the thighs of one of the horses. Cremia gasped and hesitated.

Just as it would seem the coustilier would begin maiming Cremia's horses, the soldier changed the direction of his swing to forwards, and Ingo suddenly appeared, galloping down from the opposite direction and lunging his pitchfork into the soldier's sword, prongs catching the weapon midair, and then continuing into the coustilier's chest with such force he was knocked clean off his horse. The prongs failed to penetrate the mail shirt, as the force was divided through the several prongs, but the impact of landing hard against the ground took the breath out of the soldier.

Ingo continued riding, making a U-turn while swinging his pitchfork around his head to knock aside the enemies' spears away from himself, and then galloped off before they could hurt him. As Ingo rode, he managed to ride behind another soldier and swung his pitchfork across the back of the soldier's helm, metal clanking against metal.

"HOOWAHH!" Ingo shouted, smacking his horse's rump and speeding off, outrunning the enemy horsemen before they could stick him with their spears or swords, their steeds running out of steam. One of the coustiliers, unable to catch up to Ingo, threw his spear at the rancher, the spear hitting Ingo's backpack and stabbing into it, but since he was galloping away, his movement avoided most of the force, and the spear failed to pass through his backpack. But, the impact did make him turn his back, the shaft of the spear hanging down and its butt bouncing along the ground for a few seconds before the spear fell out the backpack.

At the other side of the wagon, Herman galloped down the ground beside the path, up ahead a few soldiers, who saw him coming. Herman swung his pitchfork as he approached the coustiliers, one of them knocking aside his pitchfork by swinging a spear into it, and then immediately thrust the spear at the rancher. Herman leaned backwards along his horse's back to dodge the spearhead as it grazed his overalls, and then two more spears whizzed over him as the opposing horses ran passed one another.

"Hmph! That was close..." Herman mumbled to himself, sitting up and then pulling on the reins of his horse, causing it to skip to a stop and rear, turning around on its hind legs, and then darting off to flee the soldiers.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Norman shouted from afar while his horse reared, but he waited for the others to reach him.

Back behind everyone, Talon's horse trudged along, trotting as if ready to fall asleep. The Mad Scrub that irritated Herman quite a while ago happened to be nearby, having followed the action from within the woods. The Mad Scrub went out the woods and skipped along, seeing the big fat horse Talon rode, and stopped. Having nothing better to do, the scrub looked to the left and then to the right, lifted his gaze, and shot a nut at the horse's rear end.

Upon feeling the woody projectile smack his rear, the horse snapped out of his sleepiness and sprang to action out of fear and pain, wondering what the heck just happened, and ran down the road in panic. Despite being so huge and fat, Talon's horse was quite fast at full-speed, leaving behind a dust storm, Talon snorting and mumbling, but remained asleep. Covered with dust, the Mad Scrub oscillated away into the woods, coughing dust out his snout.

Down the road, the wagon rode on, horses panting, but they kept running. The Links inside fended off the remaining coustiliers, and few by few, the soldiers' horses gradually slowed down, unable to keep up with the wagon and its powerful horses.

While Romani, Linkle and Malon shot projectiles relentlessly, the wagon drove towards the patch of Deku Babas growing across the road and ground ahead, who upon feeling the ground shake, extended their stalks, tongues hanging out and drooling, and jaws chewing on the air. Perhaps thirty Deku Babas arose from the ground, a few of them snapping jaws at one another briefly. As the wagon rode, the Deku Babas sized up their prey, stalks arching, and then they lashed out at the horses, but obviously were trampled by them. A few smarter Deku Babas lowered their heads and slithered on the ground, dodging the hooves and wheels.

The wagon wheels ran over a few Deku Babas as well, some Deku Babas launching themselves from the sides and biting onto the spokes of the wheels, and instantly, they twirled within the wheels, were ripped out the ground, and flung from the spinning wheels. Ingo, Norman and Herman regrouped and galloped along, jumping over the Deku Babas, the carnivorous plants trying to bite the horse's legs, but the steeds were too fast and too strong, and burst through them.

As for the coustiliers, their horses being too tired to gallop, the Deku Babas who survived the hooves and wheels flung at the coustiliers, many of whom shouted in alarm, having never seen such big plants.

"Whoa! What the hell!" One coustilier shouted, pulling the reins back and causing his horse to rear, front hooves pawing at the biting bulbs.

The soldiers thrust their spears, or if they had thrown their spears, slashed with their short swords into the heads of the evil plants, one soldier ramming his spear clean through a Deku Baba's head and pinning it into the earth. The two sides fought each other, plants biting and drooling, swords and spears lunging and swinging, horses rearing and kicking.

The Deku Babas at either side of the road stretched out and bit at the coustiliers and their horses, and stopped most of them, but a few managed to trot through them anyways, though the pursuit was lost. Horses panicking from the dangerous plants, the coustiliers, few by few, reared or turned their horses and fled, the several wounded coustiliers dotting the area here and there and not going anywhere.

"That's right you run away!" Linkle squeaked triumphantly, jumping in the air and swinging a fist through it, only to remember she was standing on a wagon! At least she landed on her feet and did not lose balance this time. She overheard those in the wagon celebrating their victory; the Descendants of Courage triumphed. Linkle made a small smile, and sighed with relief, shoulders dropping.

Linkle turned around, hood blowing back, and she walked to the front of the wagon, and hopped down, landing beside Cremia, who looked up at her, using the reins to slow the horses down to a trot.

"We did it." Cremia said, her face red, she shaking a little, and still nervous, but happy to have escaped the violence. The Gorman Brothers and Ingo trotted along the wagon, even those grumpy ranchers happy from the thrill of action and adventure; escaping the danger was a plus.

"Yes, we did," Linkle agreed patting Cremia on the shoulder, "good driving." Action over, everyone in the wagon relaxed, most sitting down, legs and arms shaky from nervousness, but the ordeal was finally over.

"Uh! Finally!" Romani exclaimed while yawning and stretching, the other children chuckling briefly.

"Well, that was... Kinda fun!" Leo exclaimed, sitting down, spear leaning over his shoulder.

"Good thinking back there Leo, we taught them a lesson or two." Raven remarked, wiping his brow, Ingo and the Gorman Brothers looking at the wagon as if offended.

"Ya'll did good, too." Cremia complimented aloud, though Ingo just huffed and shook his head.

"Who were they?" Malon asked, putting her crossbow down.

"Bad guys!" Snow stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, bad guys." Romani acknowledged.

"Eh?" Norman exclaimed, "They are obviously foreigners, raiders from some faraway land."

"Well, if that's who they are, we have to go to the castle and ask for help, before it's too late! The villagers won't be able to fight them alone." Linkle said, stabilizing herself as the wagon rocked, and everyone hoped that the villages and villagers throughout Faron Woods would stay safe. Villagers were no match against raiders and bandits, and that thought worried the wagoner and her passengers.

"I hope Talon is OK..." Malon said to herself, looking down with one hand on her cheek, worried about her father who was nowhere in sight.

"Hmph! We'd do better without that lazy bum anyways." Ingo spat, the Gorman Brothers chuckling, all of which angered Malon, she clenching her hands into fists, but said nothing. Dreadlocks, who was sitting across from Malon, noticed her frustration, and so leaned forwards to her.

"Hey, I'm sure he'll be fine." Dreadlocks said, Malon staring blankly at him through a gap in her hair, not amused. Dreadlocks did not know what to say, and felt nervous.

As the coustiliers far behind regrouped, they overheard what sounded like a stampede, and looked back down the road from whence they came. The stampede came from a single horse, the one carrying Talon. Eager at such easy prey, a few coustiliers got their horses walking down the road, their horses quite scared, eyes big and ears pointing back. Galloping as if a tower with legs, leaving swirling dust in his wake, Talon's horse bulldozed his way through anything in his path effortlessly, knocking riders and horses alike to the ground, leaving the other coustiliers dumbstruck. While snoring, Talon rode off on his rather powerful horse.

"Was that guy sleeping?" A coustilier asked, but got no reply.

Talon unconsciously galloped through the Deku Babas as if they were grass, and his horse ran out the forest and into the field, chasing after the wagon. Everyone inside the wagon turned their heads and saw Talon's horse running forth like crazy.

"Dad!" Malon shouted, standing up.

Ingo and the Gorman Brothers looked back, and were not happy to see Talon, but they then just ignored him.

"See? I told you he'd be OK!" Dreadlocks exclaimed happily, standing up, Malon looking at him, and he looked back at her, and the two paused.

"Yeah, you did." She said with a small smile and slightly lowered head, making a closed half-smile and moving her hand through her hair. Romani and Snow noticed and held their chuckles in, Dreadlocks looking at the two kids briefly, a little red.

"Wait, what? The fight's already over?" Redhead asked, jumping to his feet and looking around; everyone looked at him.


	9. Chapter 9 - Angry Birds

**Chapter 9**

 **Angry Birds**

Whilst the villagers from the forests travelled through Hyrule Field, nothing really important happened to them. They came across patches of Deku Babas here and there, most of which were ignored as they were simply left alone.

Suddenly, flocks of kargaroks appeared, dicing out from the clouds. The kargaroks, numbering perhaps thirty, screeched as they swooped into action. One kargarok was much larger than all the others, and had orange feathers but a black tail and chest, resembling a giant rooster. It hovered, eyeing the humans below with its big beady blue eyes, and then it cawed like a giant, evil, rooster, mustering its horde to action.

"CAW, CAW, CAW, CAW, CAW, CAW, CAW!" the kargaroks chanted, all at the same time, even beating their wings at the same time, with bloodshot eyes and drooling beaks, their orange-feathered leader up above having a seizure but still hovering, saliva dripping out its beak.

"Uh-wei-ee—what in tarnation?" Talon mumbled, and awoke (only a bird's call could wake him), wondering where he was, and then a kargarok dove into his head while spearing its beak forth, and just bounced off him with an audible knock. Talon was swarmed by several kargaroks, so he let go of the reins and began flailing his hands about. "Eyuh-ehh-yehh!" Talon whined, acting like an oversized baby, his horse trotting along nervously but too lazy to gallop.

"Well, at least he's awake..." Malon remarked, reloading her crossbow, and so the threat were shot at by her, Linkle and Romani, all of whom seemed to have an innumerable amount of ammunition. Even when the big birds were shot in the wings and fell to the earth, they simple got up and ran like turkeys, spreading their wings and charging with their beaks!

As more and more of the giant birds were diving into action, Ingo and Herman lunged their pitchforks to fend off the birds, their talons, beaks and feathers going everywhere. The big birds would swoop at the ranchers, screeching, swiping their talons, pecking, and flapping their wings, but Ingo and Herman when angry were quite the ferocious fighters with their pitchforks, and they cussed as much as they fought, addressing the kargaroks as "stupid chickens" and other forms of childish name-calling.

Norman held his knife and slashed and stabbed at the annoying birds rapidly, the three upbeat ranchers' horses also jumping to kick their back legs into birds both flying and running, or rearing to swipe with their front hooves, horses and riders feeling talons and beaks poking into their bodies.

Leo remained at the back of the wagon, spearing any running or flying kargarok attacking the wagon from behind, while Raven was at the front to protect the horses and Cremia with his spear, immediately fending off a few of the big birds, they flying backwards to avoid the spearhead lunging at them repeatedly.

"I'll go up above and help sis out." Sunny remarked, and then was atop the wagon with Linkle, to provide his sister support as she shot at the dangerous wildlife, allowing Linkle to shoot without fear of being knocked off the wagon by the kargaroks, but she did kick them away or bashed with the stock or butt of her crossbow when Sunny was unable to fend off multiple foes.

Inside the wagon, the other brothers took turns preventing themselves from becoming bird food, feeling beaks and talons attacking their faces and hands, even the little ones eagerly swinging their hatchets at the feathery beasts who dove in or jumped in if previously shot in the wing. Up to several kargaroks would go into the wagon at the same time, thrashing about wildly, but were nevertheless pushed, kicked or hit back out, feathers fluttering everywhere.

Romani, unable to use her bow up-close, grabbed a bottle of milk and used it as a club to great effect against the angry birds, but like everyone else, did get scratched and pecked in the arms and face. Malon, after shooting her crossbow, resorting to kicking, pushing, and bashing the stock or butt of her crossbow into the feathery fiends.

At the front of the wagon, Raven did what he could to protect the horses, Cremia yelling various cusses at the kargaroks who did so, and the birds managed to hurt them. The kargaroks dove into the outer flanks of the horses, driving their talons into the beasts, causing them to panic and run faster, neighing, the horses sometimes biting back at the kargaroks. Cremia was protected by Raven rather well, but she did receive talons or beaks into the head once in a while, and without weapons of any kind, was quite helpless.

"Hey, help!" Cremia whined, leaning away from a kargarok flying along after her while bicycling with its talons, clawing her scalp continuously. Raven immediately spun around and thrust his spear over Cremia and into her attacker's chest, the big bird jerking back upon being hit, though it continued biting and pecking at the wagoner. Irritated, Cremia punched at the kargarok, and she and Raven scared it off.

"Hey! Linkle! Help us out over here! The kargaroks are hurting my horses!" Cremia screamed while standing up. Linkle overheard and faced the horses, seeing a kargarok flying along with a horse and trying to claws its eyes out, the horse helplessly staring back with big worried eyes. She took aim, and shot the kargarok, bolt hitting it into the side of the head just as it was about to claw its talons into the horse's eyes; it went limp midair and fell.

Sunny stabilized himself and continued jabbing at the birds, even stabbing backwards with the butt of his spear to hit those behind him. Big sister reloaded her crossbow, a kargarok suddenly swooping into her, cawing and clawing, so she raised her crossbow to use it as a shield, and then bashed her shoulder into the attacking bird, knocking it back, and then Sunny swung his spear over Linkle and the shaft smacked into the bird's beak, dazing it. Linkle then shot it in the heart, and ended it.

Nearby, Ingo and Herman continued swinging their pitchforks in the air or lunging them angrily, huffing and cussing, sometimes beaks getting caught in-between two prongs. Norman had just a knife and swung that around like crazy, he and his horse clawed badly here and there. Talon, too big and too slow, was unable to fight back. Even when he pulled out his axe from his belt, and started swinging that around, the kargaroks dodged the big blade easily. Not that he wanted to hurt anything, for Talon was a big-hearted fellow, but being attacked by many wild animals had its limits on anyone's mentality.

Still standing, Cremia turned her head, seeing the passengers constantly fighting the swarm of kargaroks who kept on swooping or jumping into the wagon. She looked up and saw the orange and black one flying like crazy towards the wagon, intending to dive into it.

"Up above! Watch out!" Cremia yelled while pointing at the incoming kargarok leader, and Raven, Linkle and Sunny all looked up at different directions away from the incoming kargarok. The kargarok leader dove, folding his wings, beak open, tongue hanging out, eyes big and twitchy, full of evil and malice.

Inside the wagon, just as the passengers fended off all the kargaroks currently in the wagon, knocking or pushing them out, several of the big birds landing on their backs against the ground, everyone heard a loud thud and the entire wagon jerked to the side, the passengers staring at the wall; Linkle and Sunny above the wagon both nearly lost balance from the sudden unexpected shift.

Linkle leaned over the edge of the wagon to see what happened, seeing the alpha kargarok lying on his back, wings outstretched, talons bent and upward, and one eye twitching. He had flown into the side of the wagon and thus knocked himself out. Nearby him, this random, tiny, aggressive Deku Baba appeared, protracting from the ground, and bit his tail. Romani and the youngest Links chuckled at that.

"I bet he'll be back again, someday." Leo remarked, resting the butt of his spear on the wagon floor.

Upon seeing their leader defeated, the remaining kargaroks, few by few, flew away, some running away if their wings were damaged, biting bolts out their wings and then gaining air to fly away. Several kargaroks lied here and there, either dead or dying, or too wounded to move. Several kargaroks remained but were dealt with, and soon, the wagon was free of action.

The four mounted ranchers eventually were left alone, the swarm of angry birds losing impetus and giving up, and allowing the ranchers to regroup with the wagon, Talon the last one as usual. Once he remembered about Talon, he checked on the passengers, seeing her and then feeling relieved. Malon noticed but did not make much of a reaction. Everyone was just glad that so much action had finally ended.

"Stupid chickens." Norman grumbled, sheathing his knife then stroking his bleeding forehead.

"Yeah! It's like everything's trying to kill us!" Herman complained.

"Welcome to Hyrule Field." Ingo mumbled.

Linkle and Sunny sat down, glad to give their legs a break. They turned their shoulders to face each other, the shaking wagon in turn causing them to shake a little.

"Hey, good going, Sunny." Linkle remarked, smiling at her brother, and the two bumped fists.

At the front of the wagon, Cremia sat down, heart still racing, and she shaking a little. Noticing that, Raven put a hand on her shoulder.

"Good driving!" He complimented, feeling Cremia drop her shoulders, even her ears pointing backwards lowly.

"Thanks. And thank-you for helping." Cremia replied, Raven nodded and took his hand off her.

"Dumb birds." Little Link remarked, sitting down on the bench.

"Yeah I know!" Romani acknowledged as if she was the most important thing in the world.

"Wait, the fight's already over?" Redhead asked, looking around, the other passengers looking at him.

The wagon rode on until sunset, and then stopped nearby a grove to set-up camp for the night. Everyone cleaned their wounds with clean cloths and healed up. Cremia and Romani took the horses off their harnesses, allowing them to be free for a while. The mounted ranchers did likewise, all horses happy to have no weight on their backs. Off in the distance was a tiny mountain, with brown crags in a circular formation, and the ruins of some wall now little more than a line of rubble. The mountain had a flat top, now overgrown with trees and shrubs.

"See that flat-topped mountain over yonder? That used to be a ranch long ago, our ancestors lived there." Talon remarked as he prepared himself to lie down on the ground, not helping anyone or doing anything.

"Really? How long ago? That little mountain looks like no-one's been there for forever." Cremia said, pointing her bow at the mountain and plucking the bowstring, Talon inhaling as if to reply, lying on his side, one arm under the head, and instantly began snoring. Cremia looked at him, expecting an answer, but he was just snoring away.

Meanwhile, the teen-aged brothers (having left their spears inside the wagon) and Linkle made a simple fire nearby. The weather was good, so sleeping outside was an option. As the children ran around playing tag and giggling, Malon, Cremia, Ingo, Herman and Gorman helped build the fire. Ingo and the Gorman Brothers worked quickly, getting firewood efficiently, much faster than everyone else, but grumbled unintelligibly about Talon.

"Oh that lazy bum! I can't believe a father would not even help his daughter and nieces!" Ingo spat as Talon snored, nearly throwing the three bundles of firewood he had collected down to the ground; Malon got a little intimidated and said nothing, the Links also quiet, most of them thinking about to solve the problem.

"Too bad those stupid chickens didn't grab him and fly away with him." Herman whined, putting down three bundles of firewood as well, as did his brother Norman. Norman looked up and saw some bats flying around.

"We don't really need his help, there's lots of us anyways." Cremia remarked, putting some small branches into the fire, Ingo grunting and walking off angrily.

"I bet he's angry." Snow whispered to Romani childishly, and the girl giggled.

Once the fire was burning strongly, nightfall came. Very large branches and small logs were put into the fire, which would burn longer. The fire produced a calming sensation, embers flicking up into the night sky where stars blinked into sight. Even the grumpy ranchers were not upset.

As everyone got their sleeping bags ready to arrange around the fire, Cremia looked at her young sister, but said nothing. Despite having fought-off bandits, horsemen, and then giant birds, the kids looked fine, excited to be with Romani. For them, this was camping, a trip, an adventure; they sure were happy to be out of their farm work. The children were in a group together, quietly giggling as they pretended to be giant worms within their bedrolls and rolling around each other.

"Don't hurt yourselves." Cougar remarked to the kids, he curling up into a ball in his sleeping bag, forearms crossed and under his chin.

"Well, hopefully..." Linkle said, sitting in her bedroll, yawning and stretching her arms, "we'll reach the castle tomorrow, and get help."

"And sell some produce, we really need the money." Cremia added, snuggling into her sleeping bag.

"Uhh, I hope those raiders won't touch my ranch." Ingo remarked, a little worried.

"And I hope that lazy bum won't be snoring like a retarded dodongo all night." Herman grumbled; Malon shook her head. Her dad's snoring was annoying, but she was used to sleeping through it, and the crackling fire helped drown out his noisy breathing.

Eventually, everyone got tired enough to settle down in their bedrolls, the horses also lying down to sleep nearby. With the fire burning on, sleep came to the animals and people.


	10. Chapter 10 - Towards the Castle

**Chapter 10**

 **Towards the Castle**

When morning came, the field buzzed to life with small birds, and the ranchers woke up to birdsong and some fog. The campfire had died last night and was now smouldering.

"Waky, waky!" the child Link with curly black hair and hazel eyes screamed, sitting up without squirming, as if a mummy rising out of its coffin, his arms spread apart, and then he jumped to his feet and ran around aimlessly and wildly. Romani instantly swung open her sleeping bag, her bow materializing in her hand as she sat up, and she took aim at the child Link, and shot an invisible arrow, complete with sound effects.

"Got you!" Romani exclaimed.

"You missed!" The child Link assured, running behind some bushes, his tanned brother chuckling at that.

"No I didn't! Don't you remember me shooting the bad guys yesterday?" Romani defended, standing up a little flustered.

"But you did miss!" Child Link stated, poking his head out from behind his bush, so Romani aimed and pulled her bowstring back, and instantly her target vanished.

"Rarr!" Redhead growled, standing up while inside his sleeping bag, pretending to be some sort of wriggling monster, and flopped over Romani just as she noticed that and gasped, and the two fell over giggling. Dreadlocks had seen that and chuckled, his young curly-haired brother jumping out his bush and running around aimlessly.

"Gr! Hard to sleep with that lazy bum snoring all the time constantly." Ingo whined all of a sudden, ruffling out of his sleeping bag angrily, like an agitated worm.

"Pff, you were snoring all night, too." Linkle complained, and considering her messy hair and dark eyes, she did not seem to have slept well.

"Eh! Bah!" Ingo exclaimed angrily, then mumbling unintelligible things; Linkle just rolled her eyes.

"More importantly," Cremia stated firmly, "I think we should get going as soon as possible, ya'll can eat in the wagon as it goes. With those raiders prowling around, we should not stay in any spot for too long."

"What? No breakfast?" Norman asked.

"No breakfast?" Herman repeated, the two brothers rubbing their eyes at the same time.

"No, no breakfast! Now stop acting like kids and get moving." Cremia ordered while putting her bedroll into the wagon, surprising the Gorman Brothers, and they said nothing.

"Since when did you become the boss?" Ingo grumbled while curling up his bedroll, but immediately stayed quiet once Cremia snapped him a pair of evil eyes.

One by one, most of the people gradually got up to get ready for the day, except for Leo, who was still curled up into a ball in his bedroll and slept away, and Talon also was lying on his side, hand under his head and elbow on the ground, snoring away, but everyone left the two sleepyheads alone.

"I had a dream I met the princess..." Raven remarked, yawning and stretching.

"Ew, gross!" Snow exclaimed happily, Raven looking at his white sibling with a weird look.

"Well, you don't wanna know what dream I had!" Cougar remarked, eyes shut and he having a pleased face.

As almost everyone rolled their sleeping bags up, Snow tripping on his bag as he rolled it up and nearly falling into the fireplace, the people put their bedrolls into the wagon, not noticing (or not caring) Snow's tumble. Cremia and Malon awoke the horses to get them harnessed, but first fed them apples and carrots.

"Cremia, you know what's weird?" Malon asked as she worked with the reins.

"Hm?" Cremia exclaimed, bridle in hand.

"I didn't hear a cucco call, you always here one cawing somewhere whenever the sun rises." Malon said.

"Ha! I guess he's running late this time." Cremia remarked, and the two ladies continued harnessing the horses to the wagon.

No sooner than Cremia said what she said, out of nowhere, somewhere, a white-feathered cucco was running through the field, rapidly and wearily, panting heavily. The cockerel jumped upon a tiny spruce tree, clawing up it with his talons until clutching against its top, his weight causing it to sway, and then he placed one wing across his chest, titled his head back, closed his eyes, and was in the instance of cawing, but a random fly flew into his face and buzzed around. The cockerel shook his head and beat aside the pesky buzzing thing with his wing, movement causing the little tree to sway, and once the fly flew away, he repositioned himself, took a breath, felt a breeze flow, and then a leaf flew into his beak before he could caw. He spat the leaf out angrily and looked around with his beady eyes, wondering why he was being disturbed by nature.

Repositioning again whilst regaining balance, the cucco was about to crow, but then looked around, just in case, to make sure nothing would bug him. Nothing did. So, he inhaled, closing his eyes, filling himself up with air, feathers puffing up, flapped his wings a little, and held his breath, opening one eye and looking around with it, and once certain that everything was good, he released his raspy, vibrating voice.

"Cu, cu-cu, cackoooo!" the cucco called (translation: "ev-ery-one wake uuuup!") with as much heart a cucco could call while a robin flew by overhead, neck slightly extended as he cawed, sounding more like a dying screeching gutter pipe with mental problems than anything else, and then he finalized his call as a short whirring noise, and then he just stood there, attached to the top of the little tree as if he were the most important thing in the world. The tip of the tree suddenly snapped and the cucco fell down, thudding against the ground.

"Did you hear that?" Little Link asked just as he threw his sleeping bag, which bounced off the back of the wagon and fell on his head, but at least he caught it.

"Hm? The cucco? When they caw like that, it means everyone wake up!" Romani remarked, throwing her bedroll into the wagon, then grabbing Little Link's sleeping bag and tossing it into the wagon for him. Romani saw Talon already wake up and standing, a little dizzy for a second, but regained himself. Leo remained asleep, motionless.

"Good mornin' Malon!" Talon exclaimed happily, Malon smiling as her dad gave her a light hug with those huge arms of his.

"Someone wake up Leo and get that sleeping bag there." Linkle remarked, pointing at the sleeping bag the black-haired child left behind.

"No, I'll get it!" the black-haired child Link said, suddenly appearing at it and rolling it up. Linkle smiled and went back to standing around; she was holding a map and compass and examining the situation, but she appeared to have some difficulties, and ended up putting the two things back into her backpack. Leo remained sleeping. "Wake up Leo!" the child Link exclaimed, poking Leo in the ribs repeatedly with both hands, and after a few seconds, this sleepy lion emerged, hair messy and face sleepy. Leo got angry and pushed his annoying brother away, then rolled onto his side and tried to sleep some more.

Nearby, Ingo and the Gorman Brothers put their backpacks on, fed their horses with vegetables and apples, harnessed the horses, and then mounted them. Talon's horse looked bored. Ingo noticed the three young women turn and look off in the distance, opposite from the wagon, so Ingo and his uncles also looked in that direction. They saw seven men perhaps a hundred yards away, definitely bandits. They wore sleeveless shirts and had sheathed grossmessers and daggers at their hips. One of them stood with his arms crossed and seemed to be talking. The men were not hostile, and seemed to only be watching.

"Well, we'd better get a move on now." Cremia remarked.

"There's only seven of them, we can take 'em!" Romani chirped, Sunny and most of his brothers looking confident in another fight, and the Links all touched their axes, but Leo and Raven, who had thrown their axes earlier, realized their axes were missing from their belts, and it was unlikely they would ever find them again.

"But we don't know how many friends they have, let's just get going." Cremia implored rather quickly, she already jumping into the wagon to get the horses ready to go.

"Oh come on, we can take them!" Little Link exclaimed eagerly, rolling up his sleeves.

"You'd just fall flat on your face." Snow teased eagerly, Little Link looking at Snow and wondering what his problem was.

"Hm? What? Who's causing trouble?" Talon asked, looking around, and when he saw the seven bandits, he withdrew his rather big axe and brandished it, yelling at the bandits, who immediately ran off, not wanting to pick a fight with a man who looked as strong as a bear.

"Hey! Leo! Get up already!" Linkle shouted, walking to her lazy brother and kicking him in the butt repeatedly until he emerged from his soft tomb, then gave him a mean look, and gestured him to get moving.

Soon, the ranchers and villagers were ready to go. The Links and ladies were inside the wagon, eating bread as the wagon rode, with Talon, Ingo, Herman and Norman on horseback following along, Talon at the back as usual. Leo, Sunny and Raven sat with their spears leaning over their shoulders, spearheads almost touching the ceiling of the wagon. The children sat on the same side together to joke and play.

Linkle sat beside Cremia at the front, Cremia driving while Linkle used a map and compass for co-ordinates, Cremia occasionally looking at the map. Linkle noticed a picture of a yellow dragon at the corner of her map, labelled as "Here be dragons."

"Ya, like that's gonna help a lot." Linkle remarked, tired face still angry and her hair still messy, staring at the picture of the dragon as if she wanted to kill it. Cremia suddenly folded the map down, Linkle looking at her.

"Forget the map." Cremia said, smiling, "Maps are useless anyways, we'll just go around until we find what we are looking for."

They went across the field, and soon, Hyrule Castle poked over the horizon. It was quite a big structure, consisting of a gigantic palace-like keep, enclosed by walls with a large tower at each corner. The castle was overgrown with vines creeping up the stone everywhere. Long ago, the castle was once surrounded by a city, the city then having its own walls and even bridges, but those were long-gone. Now, the city was replaced by a canopy of trees, the trees varying greatly, from oak to spruce, aspen to cedar, resembling a city of trees.

"See? Told you we wouldn't need the map!" Cremia exclaimed, smiling at Linkle who was fixing her hair, and instantly, all the children squirmed around her and Linkle out of nowhere, wanting to see the castle, Little Link behind them and trying to squeeze his way to see.

"I wanna see! I wanna see!" Little Link squeaked, his teen-aged brothers and Malon chuckling, causing him to turn around and give them an angry look, which made them chuckle at him again, which made him angrier.

"That's the castle?" Redhead asked, nearly pushing Linkle off the wagon, but she did nothing, understanding the child's excitement.

"It looks so small from here, looks like a toy." Romani remarked; she had left her bow on her seat.

"I think it's cool." Snow remarked, his mouth a little open and eyes big.

"Are you going to meet the princess?" Romani asked, leaning into and then nudging Snow in the ribs. "Tee hee hee hee hee hee!" She giggled, covering her mouth, Snow looking at her and wondering what her problem was.

Little Link continued squirming, trying to get to the front of the wagon so that he could see the castle. The other kids did not know how much this meant for Little Link, and he already felt his face getting hot and his eyes becoming moist and warm, almost believing that there would be no other chance to see the castle. Soon, he managed to writhe in-between Romani and his black-haired brother, poking his head through them and in-between Linkle and Cremia, and he just gazed up at the peeks of the castle, mouth open, eyes big and shiny, a little saliva leaking out his mouth, face full of awe.

"Wow... I wonder how that place is inside, it must be, like, full of royalty and super stuff, and stuff." Little Link said, not knowing what to say, envisioning vast wealth and beauty: immense golden halls filled with marble statues and suits of armour, angelic nobles in long white clothes, grandeur and power and everything splendour, in a moment, a mere twinkling, utterly an endless fantasy of a child's blossoming imagination. "I wonder how perfect everything must be in there."


	11. Chapter 11 - Elegant Expectations

**Chapter 11**

 **Elegant Expectations**

Yes, indeed, how perfect royalty must live and enjoy life, a life both easy and enjoyable. They would be polite, regal, excellent, mannered, and respectful, and live in beautiful rooms, with perfect conditions. How lovely it must be to live as a monarch.

"Eat dirt, dick-face! EAT DIRT!" a small girl screamed, soon following a boy crying, disturbing the sunny evening.

The castle grounds of Hyrule Castle was quite a beautiful place, having trees, plants, and flowers trimmed nicely. The royal gardens was full of many different kinds of plants and colours, and looked quite exotic. The castle grounds had many walls of hedges, all enclosed by the immense walls of course, but the hedges formed maze-like passages here and there. Daylight illuminated the fortifications overgrown with sprouting vines.

Kneeling on the grass was a young girl, wearing a pretty snow-white silken dress, and some sort of narrow, short-sleeved, velvet tabard over it. She also wore a flat-topped cap, like a mitre, with a white base but velvety top. Her clothes and cap were decorated with swirly intricate patterns featuring Hyrulean iconography woven into the fabric perfectly. The front of her mitre and the back of her right hand was engraved with the Triforce; she was, undoubtedly, one of the daughters bearing the Triforce of Wisdom. Well, she seemed to have more anger than sapience in her blood. Despite being perhaps nine years old, she was quite tall for her age, being long-legged.

This little princess was a blue-eyed freckled redhead, with long curly hair. Not even her freckles could hide her cheeks blushing with anger, she biting her lower lip and some of her tongue, upper lip raised crookedly, left eye twitching, eyebrows furrowed, and a little bit of spit drooling down her mouth.

Well, she was, apparently, kneeling over a boy with short black hair, the boy face-down, and the princess pushing his face into the ground with her right hand as he squirmed. The boy wore a child-sized steel cuirass with pauldrons, the extra weight keeping him down as the princess smudged his face into the earth. She then leaned down to his ear, as if to whisper to him.

"Did you hear me?" she whispered kindly, contrary to her ferocious face, easing her right arm and so giving the squirming boy a break from his suffering, "I SAID EAT DIRT, DICK-FACE! EAT DIRT!" she screamed into his ear, warm spit flying onto the side of his face, then she continued pushing his face into the dirt, and his vapid squealing ensued.

"Zelda!" a young woman's voice screamed, the girl not even hearing it, "ZELDA!"

"HHMMM?" the little girl growled while keeping her mouth closed, rather slowly standing up, tardily turning around, head tilted diagonally backwards a bit, she sucking on her lower lip, eyes big, nostrils and upper lip lifted, eyebrow lifted, right eye twitching, and eyeballs nearly bulging out their sockets.

"Zelda! Leave Matthias alone!" a young woman said, grabbing the little princess under the arms and taking her off her feet, then throwing her over her shoulder. Immediately, the little princess began kicking frantically and pounding her little fists down the young woman's back, noting how soft her full-length long-sleeved crimson velvet dress and long straight brown hair were.

The young woman also had a Triforce on the back of her right hand, but did not wear a crown, a curious feature the princesses of Hyrule seemed to exhibit. She had sleepy brown eyes, but despite looking tired all the time, she was always perfectly groomed and tidied up. Despite being about nineteen years old, she was rather short, with short legs, pear-shaped body that made her look stocky, and was quite bosomy.

"Eh! Let go of me you dumb short bitch!" the little princess ordered, throwing her head back, closing her eyes, and opening her mouth as much as it could go while her balled fists thudded against her sister's backside repeatedly, inhaling greatly to start screaming with the fury of a whirlwind, but on the last moment decided not to. As she continued to be carried away, she paused with a thinking expression, and then spoke with a false British accent, ordering, "Unhand me, you foul shrew!"

"Yes, your majesty, I am unhanding you from your friend." the young woman replied with a false British accent of her own, nudging her shoulder upward to give her bratty little sister a little jump, hearing her exhale lightly. The little princess gritted her teeth, seeing the boy in the cuirass, Matthias, picking himself up, so the child princess leaned as much as she could go and angrily stared at him, like a cat ready to pounce.

"Don't you dare walk away from me!" the royal brat threatened, waving a fist, "This isn't over yet! Just you wait! You'll see! I'll rip your head off! And then I'll-" she continued, cut-off when her elder sister walked around the corner of a hedge, the little girl turning her eyes to look at the hedge with some surprise and then trying to grab the twigs just as she disappeared behind it.

"Now, let's talk about your behaviour..." the pear-bodied princess said, barely audible behind the hedges, and she put down her bratty sister to speak to her like an upset mother.

Matthias rubbed his face, sniffling a little, cleaning the grass and dirt off himself, even slightly spitting out grass and dirt. As he moved his arms, his pauldrons clinked and scratched against his breastplate a bit. He looked around, having an unhappy, embarrassed face. He heard footfall and froze, then turned around, arms loosely down his sides and head slightly tilted, and was greeted by a worried pair of big green eyes.

"Oh, hi." Matthias mumbled, mouth a little quivery. Standing before him was another child princess, another Zelda, donning a short-sleeved black gown, which did not really match her curly blonde hair and green eyes; she had no taste, or an odd taste, of clothes. She also had dark eyeliner, eye shadow and mascara; a kid trying to be so adult, her dark makeup contrasting her pale skin. Oddly enough, she had unusually long upper canines, easily visible even when her lips were closed, looking like fangs.

"Are you OK?" she asked, Matthias nodding, "I am sorry for my sister's childish behaviour."

"Oh, it's just, uh, my armour is kinda heavy, so I couldn't get back up..." Matthias remarked, embarrassed to have cried because of a girl taking him down, feeling like such a weakling for wailing as he did.

"What happened?" the princess asked, Matthias still looking ashamed of himself.

"Oh, she wanted to play hide and sneak, but I only wanted to talk to her, I want to be her friend. She got mad and threw me down when I kept telling her I didn't want to play." the boy replied, but he looked away; was he hiding something?

"OOHHH!" the princess exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips for a moment and making an angry face, "That bum! I don't know why she's so mean all the time!"

"Heh, well, I am going to be a knight when I get older, so I need to act like one. I can't wail like a baby when things go wrong, heh heh..." Matthias said as if to himself, wiping down over his thighs to get the dirt off. He noticed this Zelda give him a sorry look, tilting her head to the side, and then putting a hand on his pauldron. Matthias looked away, a little annoyed, fighting the urge to turn away from the princess.

"You'll always be a knight for me." Zelda said with a small smile; Matthias made a slight chuckle and blushed, but still felt a little shaken from his crying earlier. He hated it when people saw him cry, and felt glad to be controlling his tears for now.

"I feel so ashamed of myself, crying in front of girls..." he mumbled while looking at his feet, and then felt Zelda take his hand.

"Hey, come with me! I have an idea!" Zelda said, pulling Matthias, who resisted a little while asking her what she was doing, but soon submitted, and allowed himself to be pulled along behind Zelda, and off they went, disappearing beyond some hedges. A few seconds later, the previous child princess reappeared—the redhead wearing a mitre—walking to the scene eagerly.

"...OK! Now, where were we?" the redhead princess asked, then paused. She let her arms drop, then looked around, slightly confused. "Mm! Whatever." she exclaimed with a shrug, then walked away to go terrorize someone else.

Meanwhile, Zelda and Matthias continued going through the castle grounds, the princess nearly dragging him through the hedges. He overheard metallic scraping and clinking noises up ahead, and asked where Zelda was taking him, but she said nothing, only smirking. Eventually, he was pulled through some shrubbery, Zelda pulling on his wrist one more time, hard, causing him to stagger forwards. When he stabilized himself, he looked up, and blushed deeply, eyes big.

On the grass were four swordswomen, fencing as two pairs, barefoot while half-naked, wearing just bikinis, made of velvet, to stay cool under the hot sun as best as possible. Despite their elegant, girly appearances, the princesses of Hyrule were actually tomboys, their bodies lithe and lean. However, not all sisters were here, a few missing.

The princesses fencing trained hard under the sun with longswords that they wielded in both hands, the rays of the sun reflecting off their sweaty skin, making their muscles and curves look very shiny, and especially causing their Triforces to gleam. They swung their swords without wrath but firmly, parrying and blocking repeatedly, edges biting into one another and sometimes causing sparks. Lying neatly on the ground nearby was an arrangement of various swords, one-handed and two-handed, straight and curved.

The young ladies currently fencing were teenagers, around the age of sixteen or so, maybe a little more or less. One had bright brown hair that went all the way down to her waist, and she had a lot of hair that stuck out her skull like a mane, which sat on her head like a giant helmet, and hung down her back like a curtain. She had so much hair it almost made her face look small. Her eyes were blue, and she had a rather narrow nose with a low bridge.

Her opponent—her sister—she duelled was quite extraordinary, having very black skin, black hair put into a lengthy ponytail, and dark brown eyes, a melanistic girl. She had a very narrow waist. She possessed full lips, large eyes, a nose with a broad bridge, and a rather mean-looking face. She was quite the black panther of a girl, stern and calculating, patient and observant.

The two sisters' swords crossed, blades pressing against one another, and then both sisters push-kicked one another with their right foot, and so knocked one another down at the same time, thudding against their backs, both surprised.

The two other sisters still standing noticed and chuckled. Those two sisters seemed to be identical twins, as they looked exactly the same, even having the same height and hair. They both had long blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing their hair in traditional Hyrulean princess fashion: long and straight, with jagged bangs hanging down the sides of the forehead. The twins were classic Zeldas, save they were identical twins.

The two fallen sisters sat up, the melanistic one happy until she noticed Matthias and her young sister, and looked a bit surprised, lifting her knees and leaning over, a little shy to be seen by a boy while wearing so little clothes, but her three other teen-aged sisters did not seem to care. The sister with giant hair sat up, blowing her hair out of her eyes, and saw her black-gowned sister and her armoured boyfriend.

"Who's that, Vampire? Your new boyfriend?" the sister with giant hair asked, chuckling, the twins also letting off a chuckle at the same time, then the twins looking at each other briefly. The child princess and Matthias looked at each other for a moment, then the little princess stared back at her elder sisters.

"Nnoo!" the young princess in black protested, as if she her elder sister had said was the greatest injustice in the world. The melanistic sister picked herself up by this time, but said nothing.

"Ha! I thought you were gonna get mad for being called vampire as usual!" the big-haired sister remarked, picking herself up, blowing hair out her eyes, and then noticing her little sister poke one of her elongated canine teeth with her thumb, eyebrows furrowed crookedly, and she looking nervous.

"Well, I have more important things to attend to." the child princess (nicknamed Vampire most certainly due to her pale skin, pronounced upper canines and tendency to wear black clothes) said while trying to sound like an adult, looking at Matthias, who just stood dumb-struck, mouth open, blushing, and eyes big, too scared to do anything, and the four half-naked sisters giggled again, at him. The child Zelda nudged Matthias. "Anyways, this is Mathias. Matthias, these are my sisters, we are all named Zelda, as everyone knows, it's become quite a legend. Anyways, my lovely sisters, Matthias gets bullied a lot, so I think we should help him out. He's growing up to be a knight, so I was hoping you would teach him how to fight!" she continued optimistically, but everything she said only deepened Matthias' blushing, but was glad Zelda did not mention the brattish Zelda in regards to he being bullied by her!

"Well, he is quite the cute little chevalier!" one of the twins exclaimed, lifting an eyebrow and tilting her head a little, bangs waving a bit.

"So I guess we could include him in our sparring today!" the other twin stated rather childishly but happily. Vampire smiled brightly, looked at Matthias, noticed his passiveness, then gave him a little push.

"Come on, Matthias! They won't bite! Let's go!" Vampire encouraged, resorting to having to grab his arm, hearing his pauldron scrape against his breastplate, then pulled him with her as she walked. Matthias felt his face heating up hotter and hotter, really not wanting to be here, wondering if the only reason his heart did not jump out his rib cage was because his cuirass was in the way. The sisters found him so cute to look at, though.

The sister with lots of hair approached Matthias, but only took a few steps, and put her sword down, then said, "Matthias, the easiest way to take someone out, is a sudden headbutt into the eyebrow. If they are shorter than you, an elbow strike in an upper cut manner is also very powerful. Or, if they are ready for you, a straight punch into the nose, followed by a hook punch into the ear, works really well; if those two punches connect, quickly slip behind your foe and put him in a cholehold." she explained, punching into the air as she spoke to show the moves.

"A left hook into the liver works really good, too. The lower right of the body is where the liver is; punch that, then when you foe bends over in pain, grab his head, pull it down, and do a jumping knee strike into the face while pulling the head down, that is also a good move." a twin remarked, Matthias looking at her bra for a moment.

"Aw, he's so cute when he's embarrassed." the other twin said quietly.

"Well of course I'm embarrassed!" Matthias nearly cried, raising his arms, "It's not everyday you walk around and all of a sudden you're standing with the princesses of Hyrule while they're half-naked!" he continued, the older sisters giggling at that.

"True... You know, every other guy would be crazy to see just one of us with all our clothes on, so take this is your luckiest day, you handsome little rascal!" the sister with giant hair said, rubbing Matthias' hair as if he were a dog, the child knight rolling his shoulders and leaning out of the way. Good thing he was a young boy, not a teenager. She then gestured her head to the various swords lying on the grass. "Anyways, go pick a sword, you don't have one yourself, so you can borrow on of ours. We will show you how to sword fight."

"Me to!" Vampire butted in, running passed Matthias and clutching a falchion, pulling the sword out of its sheath and raising the blade in the sunlight, watching the shiny blade glimmer. All the swords here were of the very highest quality, but being practise blades, were undecorated, and blunt for safety, but still edged. Matthias picked up an arming sword.

"Hey, Black Panther, come here, let's show Matty here how to sword fight." the sister with lots of hair called, picking up her sword, and her melanistic sister walked to her, hips swaying. "Look carefully. To fight with a sword, keep your feet rather apart, knees bent, front foot forwards, other foot rather sideways, to keep balance. When you swing your sword, your foe, if he knows what he's doing, will block it," she said, performing a diagonal downward swing, which her melanistic sister blocked simply by raising her sword into it, "and when this happens—if your opponent blocks or parries your blade—either pull back your sword, or move it around your foe's blade to press the attack." she continued, moving her sword as she spoke, to show Matthias and Vampire what she was talking about, Black Panther being passive for ease of showing. "Oh, and when you block, use the portion of the blade closer to the hilt, not the tip, there is more strength that way."

"When blades cross, you can also kick, trip, push, tackle, wrestle, or even grab your foe's sword." a twin remarked.

"But you have to be really quick." the other twin said. Matthis at first seemed confused, but seemed to at least partially comprehend the quick lecture.

"Come on, Matthias!" Vampire nearly screamed from excitement, eager to practise with swords, swinging her falchion at him but stopping before his forehead, causing him to flinch. "Let's fight!" she continued, grinning, upper canine teeth nearly drooling with impetus.

"Watch it!" Matthias whined, and then Vampire wondered what to say, wanting to shun him playfully, but decided not to. It was rare she got to play with boys, so she did not want to insult him.

"Let's practise! I know some swordfighting, as do you, and we have real fighters to train us!" Vampire stated.

Matthias swung his sword horizontally from his right, a very basic attack, Vampire slightly hesitating then flinching a bit, tilting her sword over Matthias' blade, and he stopped his swing.

"Actually, you should step into your opponent while you block." a twin remarked, looking at her twin, and then made a sudden horizontal swing, which was blocked by her sister easily, who simply kept her sword upright and moved her hands so that her sword was in the way of the incoming blade.

"It's much easier than it looks. Just think of it as putting your sword in the way." the other twin said.

"I know." Matthias and Vampire said at the same time, looking at each other briefly, then Vampire swung her falchion downwards overhead, Matthias leaning away and raising his sword, Vampire politely only tapping her falchion against the side of his sword blade.

"Well, you two have a lot of work to do. Normally, weapon training is only for young adults, but I suppose you two can play around, why not? OK, girls! Let's get back to sparring, maybe the two kids here can watch us and learn!" the sister with lots of hair said, moving it out of her face, and her duel with Black Panther commenced. She swung her longsword downward, which was blocked by Black Panther, and then she jumped so high she literally flipped over Black Panther, swinging her sword as she did so, Black Panther bending her knees and raising her blade so that it was horizontally above herself, blocking the attack, and then spinning around to continue the friendly duel.

Vampire and Matthias watched the teen-aged princesses sparring away, and tried to mimic them often. Observing and mimicking was, after all, one of the best ways to learn.

"Hm, I wonder what my younger sister is doing, I didn't see her after she got in trouble." Vampire remarked after she and Matthias got tired after a few minutes of practising, both of them sitting down and wiping their brows at the same time.

"Hm? Oh, she's playing hide and seek with your two other little sisters, she's probably looking for them around the castle." Matthias said, then blushed again upon thinking about what happened earlier, when he had his face pushed into the ground. Vampire noticed, hearing her older sisters' swords striking into one another, sometimes complimenting their opposing swordplay. Vampire longed to be like her older sisters, to be as good swordswomen as they were, but did not think that that was going to happen.


	12. Chapter 12 - Grey

**Chapter 12**

 **Grey**

The brat wandered around the castle grounds, a little flustered. She stepped around the corner of a hedge, adjusting her mitre while titling her head down but looking up with her eyes, and then saw some gardeners working in the distance. There were five gardeners, adults, all peasant women wearing straw hats and plain dresses with a few patches, one fat, one skinny, the three others unremarkable, chatting happily as they trimmed hedges, shrubs and trees, as well as pull out weeds. Looking at that, Crazy Zelda put her hand to her chin, thumb up along her jawline, and first finger across the underside of her chin, made an evil pair of eyes, and then she jogged off somewhere.

"Ha! She didn't even see!" a little voice chirped from a tree, and then after some rustling, a girl dropped down from the tree, landing like a cat, hands digging into the grass, a Triforce on the back of her right hand. She was a very bright little lady, with a bright golden tinge to her skin and hair, and had deep blood-red eyes, the features of xanthism. She had long locks of blonde hair, wore a crimson dress with golden trims, and had multiple rings, bracelets and earrings of gold embedded with sapphires and rubies. Wearing so much fine and jewelled cosmetics, she even looked like a little goddess.

Standing up and brushing herself off, she noticed a hummingbird fly right up to her face, and it just hovered, wings buzzing, feathers shimmering under the sun, cocking its head to and fro. She smiled, and then the little bird flew away, the young goddess watching the tiny thing go. At that, she noticed some dark clouds, and raised an eyebrow.

"Dark storm clouds... that's not a good sign. It's just like my dream." she remarked to herself, thinking about a dream from the past, and for a few seconds was quite absorbed in her thoughts. She snapped out of her trance, remembering about the game, then jogged away, but kept a rather nervous face on. A few of the gardeners saw the child running off and smiled at that.

"She's such an adorable little thing." the fat gardener remarked happily, the ladies chuckling.

A few minutes later, Crazy Zelda reappeared, running to the gardeners, but they did not notice her. The brat had in her hands a cat o' nine tails, a kind of whip that had nine thin tails, hence it's name. Well, she just stood where she was silently, so that the whip was in her right hand and lying across her left palm, the thin tails hanging loosely, swaying a bit in the air.

After a short while, one of the gardeners stood up rather slowly, having a hunch that something was amiss, and she slowly turned around, seeing this little but tall child princess just standing there, holding a multi-tailed whip. Well, Crazy Zelda remained motionless, and made a little grin and furrowed her eyes.

"Watcha got there, sweety?" the fat gardener asked, noticing the girl but not the whip, and turning around happily, and then the three others stopped what they were doing and focused their attention to Crazy Zelda, and hesitated. The brat suddenly lifted her right arm, whip upright and tails flopping around, and she paused in that position, biting her lower lip.

"I'm the queen, and you're my slaves." the brat assured, the gardeners not doing anything, and Crazy Zelda remained standing still, biting her lower lip but upper teeth showing. "Get back to work, you slaves!" the redhead blue-eyed freckled princess shouted, and then started whipping the gardeners repeatedly, causing them to dance and skip around while exclaiming "Ow!", but they did not know what to do. Even the fat gardener was quite good on her feet.

"Ow! Ow! Ow, ow! Yeow!" the gardeners squeaked as Crazy Zelda whipped them, the ladies shielding themselves, but then the brat would just whip their forearms!

"Ow, ow? Yeah! Chant the "Ow-Ow" song! The Song of SLAVES!" Crazy squealed, and continued flogging the gardeners, mimicking their cries of pain and having a great time. She had a peculiar delight in whipping the fat woman, for whatever reason. "Keep dancing you oversized blubbering mass of lard! Keep dancing around, you need the exercise!" Crazy continued, smiling with an open mouth while tilting her head back and furrowing her eyebrows, some saliva drooling out her lower lip.

Clearly, there was sometime wrong with Crazy, but she was named Crazy for a reason. Soon, the gardeners ran away, but Crazy pursued them, swinging at the air, but holding her hat down with her left hand. Shortly after, the charging princess ended up chasing after just about anything, and the janitor (some old guy), the castellan (a middle-aged man), stableboys, a few nobles, several maids, a few traders, and even a few mail-clad helmeted guards formed into a group fleeing this crazy girl throughout the castle grounds.

The guards looked imposing in their equipment, wearing hauberks with short sleeves, split at the groin and reaching the knees, and a small white tabard depicting the red emblem of Hyrule: a red Triforce above a rigid red bird with its wings outstretched beneath it. Beneath their mail, they wore a white long-sleeved gambeson. They also wore full-faced sallets with bevors and plate gorgets, the visor having a single narrow cut-out to see through, and the front of the bevor had six holes to breathe through. Despite their imposing appearance, not even their armour and spears could withstand the wrath of Crazy.

While Crazy terrorized the people, at the other side of the castle, about two dozen squires trained on the grass, barefoot, wearing only trousers. They practised fighting with longswords, sword and shield, wrestled, and grappled, but some did push-ups, chin-ups, or climbed rope hanging from a high branch. The squires were all young men, ranging from lithe to muscular, lean to bulky. They trained hard, but overheard the commotion caused by Crazy as she pursued her victims, and at that, the squires stopped whatever they were doing and looked around.

"Anyone else hear that?" a young but big fellow asked.

"How can anyone not hear that?" a lithe guy remarked.

"Are we under attack?" a lean lad asked, and at that, some murmuring ensued, and they all looked down the field. Soon enough, they saw a group of people running away, and Crazy chasing after them, and they all went their own way, running up a stairway and fleeing to the castle walls. Crazy ran after them but tripped, and scraped her knees and shins on the edges of the stairs.

"Ouch! You'll be sorry you did that to me you little craps!" Crazy threatened, picking herself and continuing her assault, the squires not even budging, and the chase commenced at the castle walls.

"Oh, it's just Crazy Zelda terrorizing people again." a squire remarked, and then all the squires went back to their training as if nothing happened.

Watching the young men sweating under the sun was a pair of red eyes, staring through an arrowslit or some sort of cross-shaped opening in the castle, but not from a tower or wall, but from the keep or palace. Inside was a young woman with tanned skin, red eyes, and rather messy, spiky, fine white hair, which covered her forehead, her right eye, and some of her face, the rest hanging down her back and passing her shoulders. She wore a dark blue skintight outfit, and over that, a black robe that opened vertically at the front, and opened it was, the hood hanging down her back.

The young woman leaned her shoulder against the side of the opening, and just watched the young men training under the sun, sweat causing their muscles to glisten. She watched the boys relentlessly and shamelessly, and enjoyed herself, so much, she did not even notice she was biting her lower lip and put a few knuckles under her chin. She blushed, and inhaled through her teeth as the boys worked.

"Aren't you a little old to be secretly looking at boys?" a little voice asked, causing the wannabe spy to pause, then spin around, knees bent and legs slightly spread apart, hands against the wall at either side of herself, as if to cover the opening she was looking through moments ago, the back of her right hand, as would be expected, exhibiting a Triforce, a little light in the darkness.

"Yeah." the spy admitted in a light, high-pitched, quick remark. Her little sister crossed her arms, Triforce at the back of her right hand glowing, and then she slowly and slightly tilted her head.

The child had very short ginger hair, so short it almost looked shaved and so had boyish hair. Peculiarly, she had pitch-black eyes, the irises having no color, the symptom of aniridia. She wore a long loose-fitting white dress and a bright purple sleeveless tabard over it. The tabard had the emblem of a red eagle-like thing at the front of the bottom half, a Trifroce above the emblem, and a downward-facing gold triangle below it. She wore golden bracelets over the sleeves of her dress, a belt with gold parts, a gold necklace with a ruby in the middle, and some sort of headdress with the back hanging down her neck. She tended to look unhappy, having a natural semi-frown and worried expression, but was quite the innocent-looking wisp of a child. The two sisters just stared at each other for a few seconds, then the child giggled, her sad face melting away.

"You know Sheik, you really gotta grow up sooner or later!" the black-eyed princess remarked, keeping a smile. The robed princess relaxed, standing loosely, and crossing her arms, leaning against the wall.

"When you get a little older, you'll understand." Sheik assured, and then tilted her head, to mimic her sister. The child noticed, and tilted her head the other way, as did Sheik, causing the child to chuckle, but suddenly, the child's face returned to a sad expression. "What's wrong, Blackeyes?"

"I had a bad dream."

"About what?"

"Dark storm clouds."

"Really? I also had a dream of dark storm clouds." Sheik remarked, standing upright and letting her arms drop down her sides. "Hm... whatever could it be?" Sheik asked sarcastically, but then realized how serious it could be, noticing her younger sister was looking out the window, so Sheik turned her head to also look out the window, seeing some storm clouds.

"Do you think that...?" Blackeyes asked, eyebrows tilting down to the sides, and she looked into the shadows of the room. The room was quite unremarkable, looking like a storage room, a minor armoury, of which suits of armour, arming swords, longswords, coats of mail, shields, halberds, glaives, spears, pikes, arquebuses, pistols, and whatnot.

"Ha! We are well-prepared as you can see. Hyrule Castle is the greatest fortress in the world, it'll take much, much more than some desert thief to take it. Buuuut..." Sheik said, finally stepping away from the arrowslit and then rummaging in nearby crates. "I will head out soon, scout around outside the castle, see what I can see." Sheik continued, gathering supplies into a bag, but also put a sword-belt around her waist, got a sheathed longsword through it, and for her other side, got a large pouch with a composite bow and quiver. Down her back was a backpack, and wrapped over the shoulder a length of rope with a grappler on the end.

"You'll go out all alone?" Blackeyes asked, surprised, and Sheik chuckled.

"Of course! I am acrobatic, athletic, lithe and lean, I can do adventuring on my own. I have sneaked in and out of the castle unnoticed many times. I do get sick of this stony thing once in a while; I crave adventure."

"Wow." Blackeyes exclaimed, impressed and proud of her sister, then wishing she could go out and adventure herself. The two sisters overheard footfall, both looking out the doorway, and then the golden princess appeared, panting a little, putting one arm on the door, causing it to open further.

"Ha, Crazy didn't even see me!" the golden sister exclaimed happily, catching her breath.

"Hey, Goldilocks." Sheik greeted, her sister of xanthism making a half-hearted smirk.

"Sheik, stop calling me Goldilocks, I don't steal bears' pudding."

"You mean porridge." Sheik corrected.

"Oh, pff! Whatever!" the golden princess exclaimed with some heat, for children find irritation in the slightest things, and then she moved a hand through her long, golden hair. "I am not Goldilocks..." she continued, shaking her head dismissively, "I am a Golden Goddess, Nayru Reincarnate, and I should be treated as such." she finished, moving her head to and fro gently to cause her hair to sway for a moment.

"You have an ego problem, Goldilocks." Sheik teased, exhaling some air through her nose to stifle a chuckle. "You're so cute when you're mad." Sheik continued while gathering some more generic things, her golden sister pausing with a displeased face. Blackeyes noticed the slight tension and felt obligated to do something.

"Oh! Ya, I forgot I was playing hide and seek with Crazy. I don't know where Matthias is though, he must have been caught already, he was never good at hiding, really especially since he wears armour." Blackeyes suddenly interrupted.

"Hm? Yeah, Mathias isn't good at anything." Golden Goddess, Nayru Reincarnate, said, then looked at Sheik, "You going somewhere?"

"Yeah, Blackeyes and I had the same bad dream, so I'll be scouting around outside the castle, into the countryside." Sheik replied; Golden Goddess looked a bit surprised.

"Oh? I also had a bad dream. Evil storm clouds, nothing special, but I was scared anyways." the golden princess remarked, and at that, Sheik paused.

"Interesting." Sheik remarked plainly, her backpack now having a hatchet, a frying pan, bags of things, tinderbox, and such survival things.

"Will something bad happen?" Blackeyes asked nervously.

"Aw, don't be scared, Zelda." the golden princess comforted, walking to her sister and putting an arm across her shoulders, holding her tight with one arm, but Blackeyes kept a sad face and let her shoulders droop. "As long as we're together, nothing bad will happen. Sisters together?"

"Sisters together." Blackeyes repeated.

"Sisters together." Sheik said, getting up and walking toward the door, patting Blackeyes on the headdress, and then Sheik left the room.

Meanwhile, back outside, the princess twins, Black Panther, and the princess with big hair continued their sparring, but kept being interrupted by Crazy's pursuit beyond the hedges.

"Oh, for Goddesses' sake, what the hell is going on?" the princess with lots of hair grunted, pushing away Black Panther's sword and wondering what the hell was going on.

"Must be Crazy terrorizing the servants." one of the twins said.

"Again." the other twin finished.

"Nothing new there." Vampire remarked while playfully swinging her falchion through the air, Matthias nervously chuckling, rubbing his nose.

Elsewhere, Sheik, Golden Goddess, and Blackeyes went out the castle, and walked down a stairway, overlooking the trees and hedges of the castle grounds. Once they reached the ground, they overheard a crowd fleeing in terror, wheezing and whining: nobles, maids, gardeners, the castellan, the janitor, stableboys, traders, and even a few guards. Leading the fleeing crowd was a big, tall, fat guard, who ran quite quickly. Behind them all, was Crazy Zelda, chasing after her prey with a whip, veins throbbing, eyes bloodshot, mouth foaming, and literally growling like a little wolf. Blackeyes' mouth dropped, and Golden Goddess covered her mouth; Crazy probably never amassed a crowd of prey this big before!

Sheik immediately withdrew her bow, sliding an arrow out, biting the arrowhead, then pulling the arrowhead out with her teeth. She nocked her arrow, pushed the stave forwards while pulling the bowstring back, aimed, and released the arrow. The headless arrow flew passed the crowd, and audibly thudded against Crazy's forehead, the shaft splintering on impact, but causing Crazy to instantly snap out of her berserkergang, and she paused. The crowd of people ran away and dispersed, the big tall fat guard taking a few whiny breaths and sobs and diving through a hedge to get to safety.

Well, Crazy turned her head while making a little growl, and looked at Sheik, Crazy's right eyelid twitching for a second. Sheik pulled out another arrow, this one having a pointed head, and Sheik aimed at her little sister. Crazy's left eyelid then twitched for a moment.

"You wouldn't dare." Crazy threatened slowly, leaning forwards, little fists clenched, eyebrows furrowed. Blackeyes and Golden Goddess looked at Sheik nervously, wondering if she really would shoot her sister. After an uneasy second or two, Sheik released her arrow; Blackeyes squeaked, the golden princess covered her face, and Crazy gasped, dropping her whip, closing her eyes, holding her breath, and pausing mid-flinch, and everyone heard a thud.

Opening her eyes slowly, the targeted princess' eyes looked side to side, nothing happened? She felt a breeze flowing through her hair, so she immediately stroked her head, then kept her hand atop her head. Was something missing? Crazy turned around, and saw her mitre pinned against the trunk of a tree by an arrow. She then faced forwards, seeing Black Eyes and Golden Goddess smiling, holding in their giggles. Sheik moved her hair out of her face, revealing a pleased face, whilst Crazy slid her hand down her head and balled her little hands, gritting her teeth.

"Hey! You dumb albino bitch! You better-" Crazy was cut-off when Sheik nocked another arrow and aimed it at the pesky brat, and so, Crazy got scared and ran away. Sheik relaxed, then a second later, Crazy reappeared, leaning forwards, staring back at Sheik with a weird face, plucked the whip, and scurried off somewhere.

"Ha! That'll teach her!" Blackeyes remarked, Golden Goddess giggling.

"She even forgot we were playing hide and seek! That means I win!" Golden Goddess squealed with delight while scrunching up her face.

"Ha, well, now that that's dealt with, I'm off on my little reconnaissance mission," Sheik said, looking at her two siblings for a second, "be nice while I am gone."

"Yeah... bye-bye Sheik, stay safe." Golden Goddess said.

"Yeah, and if things start looking bad or dangerous, just immediately come back, at any sign of trouble!" Blackeyes warned, Sheik smiled.

"I know." Sheik assured kindly, and then walked off, taking her leave of the castle.


	13. Chapter 13 - The Return of the King

**Chapter 13**

 **The Return of the King**

Storm clouds gathered over Hyrule Castle, stretching across the sky and rumbling, darkening the day.

"Looks like it'll rain soon, I think I'll call it a day." the thick-haired Zelda remarked, sweating and panting, dropping her longsword and sitting down on the grass, feeling cold wind blowing through her, the coldness quite refreshing. She shook her head, immense hair flowing with the wind. The other ladies, assuming rain to come soon, stopped sparring to rest.

"Ooh-h-h-h, it's kinda cold..." Black Panther said, shivering a little, scrunching her body up and shoulders raised; she didn't like being cold.

"I can't wait for winter!" one of the twins exclaimed eagerly, Black Panther giving the twin a mean look.

Matthias and Vampire continued sparring, the knightly boy suddenly feeling braver and impetuous upon hearing the rumbling storm clouds, his face really showing it. Vampire noticed and also become eager and excited, then the two children crossing swords and pausing, falchion and arming swords pressing against one another, thunder grumbling and then a flash of lighting appearing above. Vampire grinned hungrily, and Matthias furrowed his eyebrows, neither remembering about Crazy.

"Your move, Darknut." Vampire said, imagining the world very differently from reality, envisioning herself inside a mysterious pitch-black castle surrounded by a dead forest under a dark blue night sky. She imagined herself as a beautiful adult vampire princess wearing a long crimson dress, standing in a dark hallway lit by chandeliers, a thick red carpet going down the hallway flanked by suits of armour.

"I will send you back to your grave, vampire." Matthias replied, joining in the same fantasy, but now a fully-equipped Darknut: a lumbering knight donned in black heavy plate armour with broad pauldrons, a large armet with a big steel crest curving and tapering backwards, and the armour engraved with strange runic symbols. He did not have a shield, however.

The two pulled their swords back, and then the Darknut swung his sword, but the vampire blocked the attack, then proceeded with a chop to the head. The Darknut raised his sword and blocked; the vampire push-kicked him in the breastplate, staggering him. Thunder roared above the castle as the sounds of steel striking steel echoed.

Amidst the duel, the vampire princess slashed her falchion into the Darknut's sword, hitting it aside, then stepped forth and smashed her pommel into the Darknut's visor, stunning him. The Darknut suddenly lunged with such speed and precision, that he broke through the vampire's guard and stab into her body, causing her to fall back. She sat up, then rolled backwards over her shoulders just as the Darknut's sword swung into the floor, cutting through the carpet and striking the stone floor with such force it cracked and sparks flew out.

The vampire got up and charged, both swords crossing, and immediately the vampire loosened her grip, so that her falchion moved backwards and allowed the Darknut's sword to slide down it, she rolling her shoulders and then rolling around the Darknut, then jumping up while spinning, falchion chopping into the Darknut multiple times, cutting into the straps.

The Darknut spun around while swinging his sword sideways, breastplate and backplate loose and flopping a bit, but the vampire parried the attack, then immediately put one foot behind the Darknut's leg and pushed him over, tripping him. She hopped atop the Darknut, swinging her falchion upon him, blade bouncing against his visor, then he quickly sat up and grabbed the princess' arm and pulled, pulling her over himself, but she rolled over him. The two got up at the same time and faced one another again, blades ready.

Meanwhile, back in reality, the older sisters were tidying up, wiping themselves off with towels and then putting their dresses and boots back on. Their dresses were white, and worn over them, a purple sleeveless tabard, clothes gilded with Hyrulean symbols, being classic attire.

The giant-haired Zelda, after getting her dress and shoes back on, looked at her little sister and Matthias, the two playing away, completely lost in fantasy. Vampire was sticking out the side of a hedge, whilst Matthias kneeling on the ground nearby, the two hitting each others swords while making angry faces, Vampire biting her lower lip repeatedly while inhaling in short rapid breaths, causing some spit to drool out, making a complete idiot of herself, but who could stop a child's imagination? The elder sister just smiled, leaving the two kids alone.

Elsewhere, in the castle, Pear had gone to her room, and then having dozed off on her draped bed, lying on her side over the generously fluffy and soft blankets. Beside her bed was a small round table, and on it, a little tea kettle and cup with tea, a small plate with a strawberry-topped vanilla cake perhaps too big on it and half-eaten.

Pear's room was lavish, with thick crimson carpets, curtains, enough cherry wood furniture to fill two more rooms, several bookshelves overflowing with books and artifacts, a fireplace flanked by two suits of armour, two chairs and a small table with a bowl of pears on top in front of the fireplace, a chandelier, bathroom, paintings of the Goddesses and previous queens on the walls, swords and halberds on the walls, a gramophone at one corner, and an open balcony with stained-glass windows bearing the Triforce. The room was just perfect in everything, drapes of the balcony fluttering from the wind.

Very strong thunder sounded, shaking the ground and even the castle, waking up Pear. She inhaled and sat up, yawning while rubbing her eyes, then making a high-pitched exhale and dropping her arms. She raised her eyebrows upon seeing the sky through the balcony, surprised at how dark they were. She still had tired eyes, looking tired, as she usual was.

"Oh wow, I almost thought it was nighttime." Pear said to herself, putting her hands on her bed, looking like she was going to get out of bed, legs dangling over the side of the bed, feet stretched, but then she grasped her cake and starting eating it with her hands.

While munching away, the wind picked up, blowing through the balcony so strong that the curtains flowed into the room, as if trying to stretch towards the princess, or worse, as if trying to snatch her cake. At that thought, Pear held her cake closer to herself, and took a bite. After a few seconds of chewing, her shoulders dropped, even her ears bending back lowly, and she made a sad face.

"I really gotta stop eating so much cake," she said to herself, knowing there was an obvious reason why she was extra curvy, "eh, forget it." she ate more cake, then hopped out of bed and walked onto the balcony. While the wind blew on her, she looked outside, munching on her cake, seeing the towers, the walls, the gatehouses, and then the immense trees surrounding the castle, filled with birdsong.

Pear could overhear the nearby rivers flowing passed Hyrule Castle, which was always a welcoming sound. She then noticed Crazy running around on the castle walls. Unsurprisingly, not a single guard was on the walls, because Crazy was up there. The redhead princess stopped, panting, whip still in her hand.

"What the hell? Where is everyone?" Crazy asked herself, clenching her fists, then she looked up at the castle keep, seeing Pear at her balcony eating cake. "Who do you think you are? Princess Peach?" Crazy asked aloud, but all Pear did was take another bite of cake. Crazy huffed, then jogged off along the walls in search of victims.

Pear looked to the right, seeing Sheik walking away over the large bridge leading to Hyrule Castle, a gatehouse at the end of the bridge, and then beyond that a pond and then the overgrown forests where the surrounding town used to be so long ago. At the sight of Sheik leaving the safety of the castle, Pear was a little confused.

"Hm? What's Sheik doing walking out?" Pear asked, but soon lost interest and looked to the left. Snow-capped mountains stretched to the skies north into the horizon, and to the east, mighty reddish canyons and Death Mountain proudly stood.

While chewing on sweet cake, Pear noticed something odd. Standing in a tall tree outside the castle wall was some sort of short, short-legged, long-armed, green-skinned, horned, humanoid thing, a Bulblin. The creature wore a sleeveless fur shirt, a brown cap, a length of cloth over the mouth to serve as a mask, shorts, and simple cloth gloves. At its belt was a pouch integrated with a quiver, having a simple bow inside. In its hands was a monocular, and he tilted upwards, and looked back at Pear.

The monocular allowed the creature to see Pear eating her cake without a care in the world, and she briefly waved back at the creature lazily. This surprised the goblin, who lowered his monocular. He put his monocular into his pocket, withdrew his bow, nocked an arrow, pulled the bowstring back, and shot an arrow at Pear.

Pear just stared boringly, requiring a second and one slow munch to realize the arrow was flying straight for her! She paused, her eyes widened, then she ducked behind the railings of the balcony. The arrow flew overhead, and Pear sighed with relief. The arrow had struck the wall above, bounced off it, then ended up landing in Pear's cake. She just stared at the shaft in her cake, then stood back up.

"Hey! You stupid little goblin! You just ruined my cake!" Pear shouted, clearly annoyed, sticking her arms out to show her ruined cake; like the Bulblin was going to care! Out of nowhere, a dozen more goblins materialized here and there on nearby branches of other trees, and the thirteen Bulblins all shot an arrow within moments.

Upon seeing thirteen arrows flying for her, Pear paused, tuned around, and then ran back into her room, hearing the arrows thudding against her floor around her, but a few were caught by the flowing curtains, cutting into them but not going through.

Down below, Sheik had walked through the gatehouse at the start of the bridge, seeing a pond up ahead which used to be a fountain on the town square. Several ducks floated in the pond, one flapping his wings and spattering water everywhere around him. A few Helmasaurs lapped water at the edge of the pond, but did nothing aggressive. While walking, Sheik turned her head to look at the gatehouse.

"Hm, no guards? Ha, Crazy's probably angrier than usual, I guess she didn't have anything to eat yet." Sheik remarked, then overheard thunder rumble powerfully, shaking the earth. The thundering continued, becoming stronger and stronger for several seconds, which worried Sheik, but she soon did not care and walked on. She overheard shrubs and smaller trees shaking vigorously up ahead, and after a few seconds, she realized that it was not only thunder shaking the earth, but also the hooves of horses!

As the sound of thunder and thundering hooves intensified, so much so that Sheik felt herself shaking, she looked ahead and saw small trees being snapped and trampled, glowing bugs and groups of birds and Guays and Kargaroks flying away in various directions like crazy, and squirrels, raccoons, foxes, Bomskits, and Helmasaurs scurrying off here and there.

"Oh-my-god-oh-my-god-oh-my-god-oh-my-god-oh-my-god-oh-my-god!" this random Deku Scrub exclaimed, running across Sheik's path in panic while repeatedly squeaking "Oh-my-god!", and then oscillating in random directions cluelessly, movement causing a few Deku Babas to rise out the ground hungrily. Then, the Deku Scrub and Deku Babas were trampled over by several gigantic armoured horses, hooves digging into the earth and kicking up chunks of soil; upon being trodden, the Deku Scrub stopped talking.

The horses were huge fierce stallions, wearing plate armour, having a spike at the helm, and being ridden by Darknuts, armed with a great lance instead of a giant ikakalaka, a round steel shield, a longsword sheathed down their side, and a mace, battleaxe or war hammer at the side of the saddle. The Darknuts wore armour engraved with gilded runic symbols in the likeness already described from Matthias' fantasy, but the armour could be black, gray, purplish, or reddish. Frighteningly, the Darknuts were quite huge, perhaps seven feet tall or more.

The mighty horsemen and mightier warhorses mowed through anything in their path, breaking through branches and small trees. The destriers foamed at the mouth, as if even the steeds wanted to start killing.

Snapping out of her shock, Sheik jumped off to the side, dodging a couched lance obviously aimed at her, the rider, who wore reddish armour, turning in his saddle as he rode passed Sheik to see if he skewered her. Sheik had jumped into some bushes, and as she did so, she saw who tried to impale her, for that Darknut in reddish armour had left his visor open, and Sheik saw his hazel eyes.

Upon landing in the bushes, Sheik overheard more warhorses galloping passed her spot, the thundering of hooves so much she could not even feel her heart beating. It was quite frightening, and she just curled up into a ball, covering her head, shivering from fear, hoping she would not end up crushed by horseshoes.

There were perhaps a hundred or more knights going passed Sheik, riding in-between or swerving around the trees, jumping over logs, and breaking through smaller trees. A few Helmasaurs, being too slow to get out of the way, were unable to escape the hooves, and they cried out before being trampled, hiding within their metal shells, but were nevertheless knocked over and kicked about.

Soon, the Darknuts at the front galloped passed the pond, most slowing down to a trot or pulling on the reins (using the same hand that held the shield) to stop their horses, others raising their shields, expecting arrows or bolts or javelins to be thrown at them, but nothing happened.

"The gatehouse is open!" the knight who tried to kill Sheik exclaimed with a deep mechanical voice, rearing his horse who neighed, and then he galloped into the gatehouse. He crossed the bridge and his horse tackled into the huge barely-open wooden double doors, smashing it open, a few mail-clad helmeted spearmen running to the scene, seeing the Darknut pull his horse to a stop, causing the steed to rear and he brandished his lance.

"Hey! We're under attack!" one of the guards yelled, hoping to get attention, several nobles and merchants immediately fleeing the scene.

The few spearmen gripped their spears in both hands and charged the Darknut knight, his horse finishing his rear and front hooves thudding against the ground. The guards thrust their spears at the knight and his horse, but the spears just slid along the plate armour and did nothing.

The knight replied by thrusting his lance back at one of the spearmen, who quickly pulled his spear back and bashed the incoming lance aside with the shaft, and then stepped forth and swung his spear so that the shaft struck the knight in the helm, but his armour was so thick and powerful the swipe did little. The guards continued stabbing at the knight and his warhorse even though their attacks did not do much.

"Their armour is too strong, go for the openings!" one of the guards barked, parrying the lance and then thrusting at the Darknut's face, but he knocked the spear aside with his shield.

The Darknut's horse then reared and turned, kicking its hind legs into a guard's helmet and chest, knocking him off his feet. Another guard lunged his spear at the horse's mouth, hoping to stab into it and then at its spinal cord and so avoid armour altogether, but the horse literally bit the spearhead, jerked its neck to the side and so pulling the spear out the guard's hands and spat it out elsewhere.

Few by few, the other Darknuts went through the gatehouse and crossed the bridge, hooves clapping against the stonework, and then they eventually went into a gallop and passed the next gatehouse, and rode into the castle grounds! The arrival of more and more Darknuts was distraught at best, the Darknuts couching their lances, delivering them into the bodies of various guards running to the scene, who had no time to go into formation and could only brace themselves and their spears. No matter what they did, they were struck by the warhorses' lorication, and knocked down or trampled; their spears were unable to stop the charge.

Nevertheless, the Darknuts' great lances pierced the guards' hauberks with such force that mail links flew through the air and the guards were rammed into the ground. After a lance struck its target, the Darknut let go of it, and then unsheathed a longsword, ikakalaka, mace, war hammer or battleaxe and fought with reckless abandon, some laughing as their attacks hurt the guards whilst the Hylian infantry could do so little against them. The guard who was disarmed by a Darknut's horse's mouth resorted to grabbing another spear of a fallen guard to fight with.

Although most guards were spearmen who held their spears two-handed, some instead wielded a sword and metal scutum, their shields deflecting the great lances, but the shortness of their swords prevented them from effectively reaching the Darknuts. The smallest portion of the army consisted of halberdiers, and the flukes or hammers of the polearms did much better against the Darknuts, though the fight was already lost.

A fierce melee ensued; Darknuts and their warhorses fought, destriers kicking and biting, Darknuts thrusting with lances or swinging swords, battleaxes, maces or war hammers. Guards with scuta would bash the boss or rim into the horses whenever they could. Halberdiers swung their heavy polearms into helmets to stun the riders, one halberdier managing to swipe at a charging horse's legs and so hacked it down, causing the horse to faceplant and hurl the Darknut over itself.

"Where is everyone?" a guard screamed as he blocked a mace with his shield, for it appeared that most Hylians were nowhere in sight.

"They probably retreated into the keep, abandoning us to the enemy!" another shouted just as lightning lit up the sky.

Spearmen and swordsmen attempted to thrust their weapons into the gaps or openings of the Darknuts' armour, such as at the armpit, behind the knee, or at the visor with hopes to wrench it open and so attack the face, but this was difficult due to the Darknuts being mounted and very tall, and actively fighting.

As the fighting continued, Sheik had no idea what was going on, for this was the first time she had ever experienced something like this so suddenly. Still hearing the Darknut cavalry thundering through the forest and into the castle, she just remained in a fetal position, unable to think. How many Darknuts were there? It sounded like an army of them!

"Oh, come on Zelda, snap out of it." Sheik told herself as lighting flashed in the sky, she shaking her head, regaining her senses, and slowly getting up. The ground still shook from the thunder and charging Darknut cavalry, however, most of the impetus was lost, as only so many Darknuts could pass the gatehouses at a time. The dark knights were overeager, and soon resorted to pushing one another, even the horses began shoving each other, which only stifled the movement of the super-heavy knights.

Sheik saw Bulblins in the trees here and there, some wearing mail shirts, launching arrows over the walls and into the castle grounds aimlessly. The arrows that did manage to hit anyone simply bounced off helmets or armour, some guards with shields raising their shields to block arrows; their mail armour was more than enough to withstand arrows. The Darknuts were also hit by arrows, but they just bounced or glanced off their armour, unsurprisingly. Dozens of Bulblins jumped off branches and landed on the castle walls, looking for things to smash with their clubs.

Then, Sheik saw an imposing figure riding a black stallion appear, his horse walking casually, a man much taller and larger than the Darknuts, protected by black plate armour, gilded on and near the edges and front, armour decorated with precious stones here and there. He also wore a thick dark red cape. A large great helm horned and tusked covered his head, but his long red hair visibly hung over his backplate. Riding with him were twelve Darknuts wearing white plate armour for themselves and their horses, the riders' armour engraved with black crosses on the breastplate. The riders wore horned great helms as well, and casually strode along, probably the bodyguards of the redhead rider, and they and the imposing figure soon stopped.

"Hm... I wanted to lead that charge." the imposing figure said with a deep, rich voice, a little disappointed.

"You cannot control knights, it is in their blood to seek out the enemy as fast as they can, even if it means disobeying orders." one of the white Darknuts remarked.

Never had Sheik ever felt so helpless, scared, angry, and worried, and then she realized that the eye holes of the imposing figure's helm was facing her direction. She was alone.


	14. Chapter 14 - Besieged

**Chapter 14**

 **Besieged**

After a few uneasy seconds, Sheik noticed a Triforce emanating through the back of the man's right gauntlet, and at that, she crossed her arms, making sure her right hand was sandwiched between her upper arm and chest, hiding her own Triforce, but also trying to look more imposing, of course.

"Hmph, hmph, hmph, hmph, hmmph," the redhead rider chuckled slowly without parting his lips, leaning in his saddle towards Sheik, "you've got guts, girl." he remarked, sounding like a tower of iron in his armour. The man's bodyguards noticed Sheik but did not really care, though some were at least a little impressed by the princess' courage.

"I always wanted to marry a girl like that." one of the Darknuts remarked, followed by a few others chuckling, but Sheik didn't like hearing that, and kept her composure, lightning cracking powerfully in the sky.

 _So, our ancient enemy has returned, but he doesn't know I am one of the princesses._ Sheik thought to herself, red eyes moving side to side, sizing up her situation. _If I could get an arrow into the eye slit of his helm, I could end this, right here, right now, and kill Ganondorf, but then his men, they will..._ Sheik continued, knowing she could potentially shoot and arrow into the King of Evil's helm, but even if she was successful, that would undoubtedly result in the Darknut knights cutting her to pieces. She felt herself shiver and sweat, and already felt her breathing get a little quivery.

By this time, most of the Darknut cavalry either awaited their turn to go into the castle or stood idle, overhearing the sounds of some fighting inside, and various Bulblins running along the walls like a bunch of lost idiots, which the king and a few of his bodyguards noticed, a few warhorses whinnying from eagerness to do something. When the king looked back at Sheik, he seemed to be reading her intent.

"I was right about you, girl, you do have guts. Let's see what you've got, then." he told her, several Darknut bodyguards chuckling, but to Sheik's surprise, they did not laugh spitefully, but as if they heard something they wanted to hear.

"If you kill him, we will join you." one of the bodyguards assured, a few others exclaiming in agreement; Ganondorf made no reaction to their potential disloyalty.

Feeling her heart beating against her ribs, Sheik held her breath, trying to relax, and kept thinking about herself, her identity, and her people. _Come on Zelda, could Hyrule's fate really depend on such a scared little girl?_ Sheik thought to herself, thinking about all the legends and stories: the previous princesses bearing the name Zelda, the Gorons and their chieftains, the Zoras and their monarchs, the temples, Hyrule Castle, the Goddesses, the Triforce, the Hero of Time, the Hero of Twilight, her nine other sisters, imagining the parents she never had, even thinking of her bedroom...

"Everyone dies." Sheik whispered to herself, calming down, and then he withdrew her bow with her left hand, taking it out of the large pouch, loading an arrow and pulled back the bowstring while raising the bow and pushing it forwards, aimed, and shot the arrow. Sheik was an excellent archer, and the arrow whizzed forth gracefully, truly heading for the right eye slit.

Ganondorf remained still and unflinching. The arrowhead naturally spun in its flight, the barbed sections going in a vertical position just as it struck the eye slit, and bounced off the ridges. The shaft flung in the air and hit the ground, leaving just a mark against the ridges surrounding the opening.

Sheik inhaled and held her breath; she had failed, all because her arrow's spin ended up not going sideways. She just stood here, in front of the King of Evil himself and his twelve bodyguards, left arm outstretched and holding the bow, right elbow bent, but palm facing forwards, still keeping the back of her right hand away from the king's sight. Good thing he wore a great helm, which greatly limited his vision.

The princess noticed Ganondorf move his right hand, expecting him to unsheathe a longsword, but then the king suddenly swung his left hand sideways dismissively, as if backhanding a pesky servant, but the movement cast an unimpressive surge of electricity at Sheik, hitting her with enough force to knock her off her feet, she even dropping her bow from the shock, but she gritted her teeth and refused to cry out. She was flat on her back, arms and legs apart, back of her hands against the ground, her body zapping here and there, flickering light that reflected off the passive Darknuts' armour. Sheik felt absolutely terrible, muscles aching and stinging, refusing to move, but she did twitch a little here and there.

"You're the first person who did not scream out in pain from my magic, I'll give you that." Ganondorf said, then lost interest of the brave girl, and looked up at Hyrule Castle, the sounds of battle, storm clouds, thunder and lightning echoing, and then it began raining. The rain sprinkled and clinked against the armoured men and their mounts.

"Ganondorf?" one of the bodyguards asked, as if expecting an order, this bodyguard's horse stepping side to side briefly, eager to do something.

"I don't need anyone's help anymore. If the Hylians are so pathetic they cannot even defend their castle, I could have came alone." Ganondorf replied, even a little disappointed, probably expecting a much more exciting and dangerous fight. "Oh well, whatever. My mercenaries should arrive tomorrow morning, and bring me the boy, then I will have all the pieces together." he continued, and nudged his hips forwards, getting his horse to walk.

"What will you do, then?" a bodyguard asked.

"Head to the castle." the king answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"But there's so many Darknuts in the way?" another bodyguard mentioned, and at that, Ganondorf and his horse literally began pushing and shoving their way through the amassed horde of Darknut cavalry!

Even with just one hand, the king would unhorse the knights simply by pushing them on the helm until they lost balance due to the king's strength as well as wearing so much weight on their shoulders, and they fell sideways off their saddles. Ganondorf would also grab a leg and lift it out of the stirrup, causing the Darknut to fall, or grab the visor or gorget and push it back while twirling the Darknut until he fell. Other times, he would get an arm around the breastplate, lift the Darknut off his horse, and drop him off! Thus Ganondorf headed to the castle, leaving unhorsed, surprised Darknuts in his wake.

Meanwhile, inside the castle grounds, merchants, nobles, tradesmen, and gardeners fled in terror, while the few groups of guards were overwhelmed by many Darknuts and taken out of action. Dozens of Bulblins jumped down the walls to join in the fighting, the Bulblin archers still shooting arrows over the walls from the trees.

At the hedges, the princess twins, Black Panther and the maned Zelda, having obviously been interrupted, dropped the extra weapons they were carrying and withdrew longswords, gripping them in both hands, but most of the fighting sounded from beyond the hedges. They heard light calls and soon perhaps twenty stupid Bulblins ran towards them, the goblins brandishing their clubs.

"Where's Vampire and Matthias?" Black Panther shouted, looking around.

"I don't know!" the maned Zelda yelled back as several of the goblins charged her, so she flourished her blade, so that it was constantly spinning in the shape of an 8, and while doing this, she would turn side to side or take quick steps here and there, to prevent herself from being surrounded, blade whistling through the wind. The rainfall obviously made the grass wet, and a few Bulblins' feet slid on the grass and they slipped and fell.

The twins sprang to action, making brief shouts and swinging their longswords at the swarm of goblins, and the size of their clubs allowed them to be used as shields, and they blocked the blade. The twins pulled their swords back and swung repeatedly, staying on the offensive, chopping chips off the clubs. While chopping into the clubs, the princesses mixed kicks, kicking into the groin, legs, arms or jawbones of the goblins (since they had horns, the princesses did not want to kick at the upper heads), and if they got too close, were kneed under the chin or into the sternum, often amidst repeat bashing with the pommel and crossguard.

Maned Zelda's whirring sword pierced the loose formation of goblins, all of whom stayed back, fearing the constantly twirling blade. Whenever a braver Bulblin tried to attack, the swung would rise from below and cut into their unprotected hands, causing them to drop their club and then immediately receive a blow to the head, which felled them. Since they were so short and short-legged, their footwork was limited, and they slipped on the wet grass easily due to their natural clumsiness. The fierce princess was quite the dancer of a swordswoman, spinning around and her blade flowing in all directions, chopping into hands, arms, shoulders, legs, and heads, sometimes cracking horns. She definitely was the best fighter out of all the princesses, and mixed spinning heel kicks with her twirling, for the heels of their boots were quite hard, and audibly smacked or knocked on impact.

Black Panther, who was one of the stronger girls but not necessarily the fastest, swung her longsword diagonally, the targeted Bulblin blocking it, and she then push kicked him, kicking the club backwards into his chest and staggering him. The nearby Bulblins went around the one she just attacked and swung their clubs at Black Panther, who skipped backwards to avoid the heavy wooden weapons, which either swung through the air or hit the ground, and then she swung her longsword sideways, across the faces of three Bulblins, cutting through their masks and skin; they cried out in pain before Black Panther swung her longsword again, edge sliding across their skulls, and felled them. She had swung so strongly her blade hit the ground, and she immediately side-kicked a Bulblin in the throat, and then several other Bulblins looked at their fallen comrades for a second.

"You're all next!" Black Panther growled, and leapt at her foes like a feline, landing atop a Bulbin, standing on him, and swung her longsword in all directions; more Bulblins arrived, the reinforcements replacing and outnumbering the fallen Bulblins. A dozen or more arrows landed around, a few hitting Bulblins on the head, they grunting angrily at the carelessness of their archers.

The twins stayed together, backs facing one another, and they were surrounded by the Bulbins, a few arrows landing nearby but not hitting anything. One twin raised her sword and deflected an incoming arrow with it, then brought it down onto a club, and at the same time, she felt another club hit her in the side. The other twin spun around, swinging her longsword as she did, hearing it thud against a few clubs and then smack into the Bulblin who hit her sister, and then felt a club hit her in the back of the leg. Soon, the twins were overwhelmed and bludgeoned repeatedly, swords and clubs swinging like crazy.

"Zelda!" the maned Zelda cried out, and then was headbutted in the sternum, the horns of the Bulblin poking into her body, then he pulled his head back and went for another headbutt, but she just smashed it across the jaw with the pommel of her sword. Several Bulblins closed the distance and repeatedly attacked her legs with clubs, others joining in swarming the princess.

Feeling clubs thudding against her shoulders, elbows and shins, maned Zelda closed her eyes and gritted her teeth from the pain, so she raised the hilt of her sword, and then swung it from the side lowly while bending her knees, maximizing rotational force, and cut across a dozen or so legs of several Bulblins, all of whom fell over. Upon finishing the swing, she raised her sword to strike a Bulblin who flinched, blade striking his mail shirt and causing the links to ripple, but they protected him.

Black Panther, upon realizing her three sisters were in trouble, gripped her sword so that one hand was near the tip of the blade and the other at the handle, then she began bashing the middle of the sword into clubs and heads, pushing and shoving while striking with the pommel repeatedly, bulldozing through several Bulblins.

Suddenly, several Darknuts galloped to the scene, bursting through the hedges, looking for things to kill. Unable to fully see what was going on, the Darknuts' horses continued galloping, trampling over or knocking over a score of Bulblins, completely disregarding their safety.

Black Panther heard the galloping and jumped over a few Bulblins, dodging them and a Darknut's horse, she as surprised as the goblins were. Since the Bulbins had swarmed the ladies, when they were trampled, they were pushed onto the princesses, and took almost all the force of the hooves. The Darknuts continued galloping onward somewhere, some of them laughing, obviously not caring about goblins.

The confusion allowed the four sisters to regain themselves, the three piled by Bulblins pushing the pesky guys off themselves and getting up, panting and sweating, bleeding and having pink swelling here and there, but alive. Since the Bulblins received most of the trampling, they were too injured to get up quickly, and some just remained lying down.

"We gotta find our little sisters!" one of the twins stated.

"And get into the castle!" the other twin finished, rubbing her bleeding face with one hand, and then twenty more Darknuts appeared, their warhorses crushing more hedges underfoot and galloping wildly; the four ladies ran to the side, getting out of the way, a few Darknuts, taking the girls as enemies, lunging their lances or swords at them, Black Panther swinging her sword upwards to parry a lance, whilst the other Zeldas jumped out of the way.

"OK, let's go, girls!" the generously-haired princess said, and off they went, lighting striking and thunder roaring overhead, their dresses soaked in rain, but dauntlessly pushing on. The attack had, after all, only begun.


	15. Chapter 15 - Go!

**Chapter 15**

 **Go!**

Within the continuous charging of the Darknut cavalry, Matthias and Vampire were still playing their fantasy. The rumbling of the thunder and hooves just amplified the two children's imagination, living the moment vividly. Back in their black castle surrounded by forests under nightfall, the duel progressed outside. The forest was on fire, thunder flashed in the sky, and lightning struck the trees here and there.

Amidst flames, swirling embers, high winds, and swaying trees shaking ashes and cinders, Darknut Matthias and Vampire Princess stood, swords crossed, and the armoured foe overpowered the lady, tackling into her and she fell over. A surge of heavy flames swooped by, and flowed away.

The Darknut dove upon his fallen foe, but she rolled away, his sword tip ramming into the earth. The princess stomped upwards into the helm, and then rolled backwards over her shoulders, and was on her feet. Her armoured foe got up as well, and a stake of lightning struck between them, staggering them. Neither cared, and charged each other; the crimson-clothed princess jump forth, grasping her sword by handle and blade and bashing it sideways, blocking a vertical chop as well as smashing the knight in the helm.

In retaliation, the Darknut push kicked the princess in the abdomen, staggering her and then swinging his sword at her head, but she leaned backwards and spun out of the way whilst letting go of the handle, but her other hand still gripped the blade, and so she swung it like that so that the pommel hit the Darknut across the helm.

Then, heavy winds blew near, casting a mass of flames across the area, and several bolts of lightning smashed into the earth here and there, blasting the two combatants off their feet. Amidst swirling flames, wind, ashes and dust, the Vampire Princess felt hurt, but got up anyways, and limped towards her armoured cap-a-pied friend, who was hit by lightning, and being covered in metal, received quite a lot of shock.

The Vampire Princess kicked the Darknut's visor open; he exhaled slowly, and she pointed her sword at the brute's face. Just as it seemed she would plunge home her blade, she instead offered a hand. Surprised, after a few seconds, the Darknut looked up, and the princess made an acidic smile. Both heard digging noises, and then, arising from the ground all around, Stalchildren emerged, skeletal creatures.

Looking around slowly and coolly, the princess heard the undead clicking their bodies forth. She then looked back at the Darknut, and made a nicer smile. His gauntlet then grasped the princess' hand, and she helped him up to his feet, as if they were part of some bad fantasy story. Now back-to-back, the two combatants got ready to fight the endless hordes of undead.

Back in reality, Matthias and Vampire were just standing nearby one another, attacking the air around them, rather slowly and clumsily, Vampire suddenly raising her arms and making sound effects for lightning, and then moving her arms as if casting magical spells. Matthias moved his arms as if throwing people through the air, and chopping them up midair. Surrounding the two kids was a bunch of clueless Bulblins, wondering what the hell they were doing.

Vampire bent over sideways, falchion pointing forwards, and her free hand with the fingers outstretched, and then she suddenly jerked to the other side, making claws with her hands, drooling out the mouth as she made fiery sounds like a retard. Behind her, Matthias was slashing and jumping around.

Twenty Darknuts rode by, all of them carrying metal lances which they held upright, so that the tips pointed upwards, they looking around, and noticed the two crazy kids making complete fools of themselves, and the Darknuts laughed at that.

"Look at those stupid little kids!" one exclaimed, laughing so much he leaned over the pommel of his saddle.

"Watch out! They bite!" a thin Darknut warned.

"Those two must be the greatest warriors of Hyrule." another remarked, a much fatter one.

"Is this how parenting is done here? I am surprised Ganondorf is always losing!" a Darknut in black armour teased.

Suddenly, Vampire jolted forth towards the Darknuts, arms extended, making an evil face, green eyes fierce, and a real bolt of lightning plunged down from the sky, naturally attracted to the raised metal lances of the Darknuts as well as their metal armour, the lightning forking apart and striking all of them with such force they and their horses flopped over, Darknuts dropping their shields and lances, and they and their steeds all started twitching and zapping under the rain.

The sudden blast of lightning shocked Matthias and Vampire out of their fantasy world, both jumping from surprise and wondering what was going on, for they were surrounded by about fifty horned goblins. The Bulblins looked at the twitching Darknuts and destriers, looked back at Vampire, then they all ran away.

"Gah! I'm wet!" Vampire screamed, glaring at her dress, the two kids then looking around frantically and having no idea what was going on.

"Whoa! I never knew you could do that!" the maned Zelda exclaimed, she and the twins and Black Panther running to the scene.

"What's going on?" Matthias whimpered, rain clinking against his armour and the armours of the Darknuts and destriers.

"A horde of Darknuts." one twin said.

"And Bulblins." the other twin included.

"Have attacked the castle." the two twins said at the same time.

"What? What the heck were the guards doing this entire time?" Vampire exclaimed, and she started shaking a little. The older sisters looked around, overhearing trampling and shouting, seeing many of the Bulblin archers now beginning to jump off branches and landing on the walls for better shooting.

"Have either of you seen Crazy, Goldilocks or Blackeyes?" maned Zelda asked worriedly, who seem to have become the leader of the squad, and Matthias looked guilty.

"Uh, we were playing hide-and-sneak, but last I saw, Goldilocks went up a tree somewhere, saying that Crazy always looked around those wind turbines first, Blackeyes went inside the castle to hide in an armoury, but I don't know where they are." Matthias replied quickly, as if he was in trouble.

"Get down!" Black Panther growled as a volley of arrows flew towards them, so everyone hit the ground except Matthias, a few arrows bouncing off his armour. Fortunately, no-one was injured, though an arrow did end up getting stuck in Maned Zelda's hair, so she pulled it out and threw it away.

"We need to get into the castle, that's our last hope of defence." the maned Zelda said, and at that, the group ran away just as thirty or so Darknut knights trotted by, obviously seeing the girls, but not caring about them, not viewing them as worthy foes, let alone enemies of any kind.

Meanwhile, up above, Crazy was angrily stamping along the walls, wondering why there was no-one to terrorize, looking down at her feet. She obviously noticed the Darknuts running rampant everywhere earlier, though did not seem to care. Even when she could see the squires who were practising outside earlier end up being swarmed by Darknuts, undoubtedly beaten to a bloody pulp or worse, she did not care. The few remaining guards and boys outside the castle seemed to have surrendered, as many of them were being tied up by Bulblins and then rounded up near the walls.

Not bothering about anything, Crazy Zelda walked around a corner of the keep and all of a sudden a bunch of Bulblins were charging her. Crazy paused mid-step, raising her angry pouting face, the Bulblins exclaiming their "whur whur" battle cries, excited at the prospect of such easy prey.

Crazy suddenly reared back on one foot while hissing like a cat, shoulders raised, arms bent, and one leg also raised, as if she had almost stepped on a mouse and was terrified of it. She paused in that stance, and began flicking her nine-tailed whip rather weakly just using her forearm, hoping she wouldn't get hit by the clubs.

Her whip did not do much, but did cause a few goblins to flinch or hesitate, and then Crazy squeezed into the tight mass of Bulblins, and began whipping like crazy in all directions, hissing, snarling, growling and gargling like a wild animal, scratching at eyes, biting faces, kicking into groins, ramming her fingernails into eye sockets, and doing all of this with the reflexes and quickness of a ferret.

The Bulblins could not do much, their clubs too long and too heavy to be used up-close in a tightly-packed group, and the fear of having their eyeballs dug out by fingernails or the nine-tailed whip, which could lash at several Bulblins at once, forced them to lean away and cover their faces, and crotches.

Within the frenzy of snarling and gargling and all manner of dirty fighting, Crazy reached the other side of the group of Bulblins, and as she stepped out of them, backhanded both hands backwards, slapping across the faces of two Bulblins, and then realized she had dropped her whip! When she spun around, the Bulblins, half of whom either received kicks into the groin or nearly had their eyes clawed out, decided that it was not worth it to fight this crazy redhead. They allowed her to retrieve her whip, she raised it to show them, they leaned back, and she walked away as if nothing happened.

Down below, the other Zeldas fled the Darknuts and Bulblins; the constant charging of the bloodthirsty Darknuts caused entire groups of Bulblins to disperse, allowing the sisters to move without too much trouble. They soon saw Crazy walking along the walls.

"Crazy! What are you doing? Get into the castle!" the maned Zelda screamed, but Crazy just continued walking along as if she didn't care, raising her head and tilting it away from her sisters below. "OOHHHH. That brat! She's so in need a good spanking."

"Hey! Crazy, get into the castle!" Vampire shouted, repeating what her older sister just said, hands at the sides of her mouth, but Crazy ignored her. They then heard vast numbers of warhorses approaching, for by this time, the Darknuts would soon swarm throughout the castle grounds!

"She's already up on the walls, and we better do the same!" Matthias cried, shaking in his armour, and all of a sudden, vast hordes of goblins began pouring along throughout all the walls, brandishing their clubs and bows. The few double doors leading into the castle from the various sections of walls obviously were closed and locked, with Bulblins trying to bash them open with their clubs, which was futile.

"Nope." a twin remarked.

"Not gonna happen." the other twin finished.

"CRAZY! Look out!" Vampire squealed, tears flowing out her eyes so worried she was about her sister; the other sisters gasped or held their breaths, and Black Panther wheezed aloud, everyone hoping the worst not to happen. Curiously enough, Crazy simply walked into the mass of Bulblins running across a section of wall going across the castle grounds, she slapping and whipping them around, causing some to fall off the walls.

"Oh?" a twin exclaimed.

"She's fine." the other twin remarked, and then the Bulblins overpowered Crazy and threw her off the wall, she falling down the other side and so disappeared from sight.

"Oh?" the previous twin exclaimed again.

"She's not fine." the other twin corrected.

"Quick! We have to help her!" Vampire screamed while taking a few steps and beckoning everyone to follow her, but the doors in the wall ahead was closed, and a few dozen goblins were making their way across the castle grounds to charge the sisters here.

"We'll need to find a stairway going up to the walls." a twin suggested.

"And fight our way to her." the other twin finished.

"We can't, there's too many Bulblins everywhere!" Maned Zelda exclaimed angrily, Black Panther already swinging her longsword at the horde of Bulblins charging them, and the other teen-aged sisters joined the fight, blades swinging into horns, heads, hands and shoulders at every opportunity while walking backwards. Vampire and Matthias did what they could to help, but neither were real warriors, and soon they all had to retreat.

Fortunately, the wooden double doors in the wall up ahead could be opened, and everyone passed through, closing the doors behind to slow down the Bulblins chasing them.

Up ahead, several Darknuts trotted around, as if having nothing to do, and at the entrance of the keep itself, a vast horde of Darknuts were in the way, so numerous they covered the entire entrance and the road leading to it! The entrance was, undoubtedly, clogged by Darknuts sitting on armoured warhorses, all of them eagerly waiting their turn to fight. Out of boredom, a few Darknuts were poking the very tall statue with an emblem of the Triforce at the top.

By the sounds of it, the Darknuts were gradually getting their horses to squirm into the castle to bring the fight there, several by several going up the short stone stairway and through the pillars, and undoubtedly, Hyrulean knights and Hylian soldiers were inside making a last stand, sounds of battle echoing from within the castle, but the battle was already lost.

"We're trapped outside!" Matthias whined, and then they all stopped. There were Bulblins behind them and on the walls, and Darknuts ahead of them; there was nowhere to go.

Although the various arrowslits and windows of the towers were spaced apart, soldiers often appeared, sticking out the opening and holding crossbows or arquebuses, and shooting them at the Darknuts or Bulblins, who looked up. Bolts and bullets whizzed through the air in many directions, shooting down Bulblins, but even Darknut armour could withstand gunfire, but their horses were upset by the smell of gunpowder.

"Yeah! Finally! Shoot them down!" Matthias cheered, and the other Zeldas relieved for some retaliation to happen, a few Bulblins behind them being hit but the projectiles and hitting the ground. Bulblin archers shot arrows back at those behind the loopholes and windows, but most arrows missed, only hitting the masonry.

The sisters and Matthias ran towards the walls away from the keep, just to stay out of the way of the gunners and crossbowmen at their according towers, going amidst hedges and trees which would serve as minor obstacles for the Bulblins.

Directly overhead, a soldier stuck his head out the window of a tower, seeing the Zeldas below, who raised their longswords and started fending off the Bulblins. The goblins were concerned from the prospect of being shot in the head, and that along stifled their eagerness to charge.

"Hold on! I will get a rope and throw it out the window!" the soldier shouted, then he disappeared to do just that, and soon, a coiled end of rope was thrown out, and landed on the ground near the sisters. "You'll have to climb the rope, all the way up here! We can walk across the buttresses to reach the keep later!" the soldier continued.

"Wait, what? Climb all the way up there, then walk across the buttresses?" Matthias asked, already feeling his belly wiggling from fright.

"Well, what other plan is there? OK, Vampire! You go first, you're the youngest!" Maned Zelda ordered, so her little sister did so, but not having a sheath for her falchion, was forced to discard it. She then grabbed the rope, and up she climbed, slowly but surely, while her older sisters and Matthias fended off the Bulblins.

While climbing the rope, Vampire could overhear the echoing fighting inside the castle even from here, the cracking of gunshots and lightning, and then a few arrows hit the masonry near her. Feeling heavy rainfall constantly leak down her face, clothes and the rope made everything more difficult, and her hands sometimes slipped a little.

"My hands hurt!" Vampire cried.

"Shut up and keep climbing!" Maned Zelda barked, fighting away as Matthias was next to climb, and then the twins, who sheathed their longswords. The Bulblins, upon seeing the sisters climbing up one by own, took the advantage and swarmed Black Panther and Maned Zelda.

"Go on!" Black Panther shouted, swinging her sword side to side powerfully, knocking aside clubs and cutting into horns and arms, but received a few hits to the head and arms herself.

"No! You're younger than me, up you go! I'll climb last!" Maned Zelda shouted back, a few clubs hitting her in the head and shoulders, but she retaliated by swinging her longsword like crazy, becoming a windmill of edges while kicking and spinning.

Black Panther push kicked a goblin back, swung her sword across a few clubs, then jumped to the rope, feet on the wall, one hand grasping the rope, and other hand swinging her sword. The large-haired Zelda heard bolts and bullets thudding against the Bulblin's bodies and heads, but she was quickly overwhelmed by very many opponents.

Noticing their sister's struggle, the twins let go of the rope, unsheathing their longswords midair, their feet soon landing upon the heads, horns and shoulders of the Bulblins while driving their blades downwards, and took down several Bulblins. This created a few seconds' opening, Black Panther sheathing her sword and climbing up quickly, Matthias and Vampire ahead of her and making slow progress. The twins and their thick-haired sister fought-off a few dozen Bulblins, keeping them at bay, soldiers in the various towers shooting away and causing some panic.

"Thanks, now get climbing." Maned Zelda instructed, and her two sisters sheathed their swords and jumped at the rope. The maned Zelda gripped her sword so that the palm was against the side of the crossguard, fingers curled around the quillons, and then she threw it while twirling the blade clockwise, as if it were a javelin, and it skewered a Bulblin then stabbed into the one behind him. She then spun around and leapt at the rope, the Bulblins jumping after her; while she climbed, she stomped down upon the goblins, feeling clubs striking her hips and legs, but she managed to climb until the Bulblins could not reach her.

The Bulblins stared stupidly as the sisters climbed, and then, one by one, the Bulblins put their clubs in their mouths, grabbed the rope, and climbed after the Zeldas! Other Bulblins threw their clubs at the Zeldas, most missing unsurprisingly, one hitting Matthias in the backplate but it just bounced off, Vampire was too high to reach, but the few clubs that hit the teenagers' backs hurt them, but they did not let go of the rope.

"OOOHHHHH, those pigs!" Maned Zelda grumbled; no-one likes being attacked while in a helpless state.

"Just keep climbing!" Vampire called from above, stopping and looking down, and once she realized how high she was—about halfway—all of a sudden, she didn't want to talk anymore. To make things worse, a bunch of Kargaroks flew around in the sky, but did nothing, yet.

Most Bulblin archers were preoccupied with the crossbowmen and gunners in the towers, but some shot arrows at the girls climbing the rope, and when the princesses noticed, they resorted to rolling their shoulders, leaning side to side, or swerving while climbing, to dodge the arrows. The Bulblins at the various doors of the castle continued bashing them, trying to break them open, but did not get far.

Very high, up above, above the keep itself, where high winds punished the castle, dozens of Hylian soldiers appeared, armed with arquebuses, crossbows and longbows, and they had no problem shooting down upon the Bulblins along the walls. The high winds kept the soldiers behind cover, except the fattest ones who were so heavy the wind did not bother them, and they managed to at least harass the besiegers, though at times, Kargaroks swooped at them, and so were shot.

"Look! The princesses down there are climbing that tower by a rope!" an arquebusier screamed through the wind, so he and those around him aimed their next projectiles at the princesses' area, shooting at the Bulblins harassing them, making their climb easier. The longbowmen had the best rate of fire, capable of nocking their three-foot-long bodkin arrows every second second, and not being stuck behind a narrow opening allowed them to fully utilize the space that the castle top granted; they punished the goblins they hit, a few even being pinned to the ground by the immense arrows!

"Ha ha! That's nice!" a twin exclaimed.

"For a change!" another finished, and up the princesses climbed, the maned Zelda stomping down the Bulblins that reached her until they fell off, and their ascent to the tower seemed to be working!


	16. Chapter 16 - Flying Buttresses

_Chapter 16 dedicated to AshesAndInk from FanFiction_

 **Chapter 16**

 **Flying Buttresses**

As wind and rain pummelled the towers, causing the rope to sway and so causing Matthias' breastplate to scrape against the masonry, those climbing it held firm anyways, feet walking up the tower and hands pulling against the hemp. Eventually, Vampire reached the window of the tower, the soldier behind it leaning out to help her into the tower. Next was Matthias, Black Panther, the twins, and lastly Maned Zelda who occasional stomped down at the Bulblin behind her, but two dozen more Bulblins were climbing up the rope below him!

Once the humans were inside the tower, the soldier unsheathed a Bowie knife and started cutting the rope. The Bulblins looked up and paused, then the rope ripped apart overhead, and down the Bulblins fell, making whirring noises, and thudding against the ground atop other idiotic goblins and that was the end of that.

Vampire jumped around a bit, flicking her hands, which reddened from the climbing, Matthias having a similar problem. The ladies looked relieved to have escaped such bad odds, hair and dresses dripping water, so a few soldiers tossed them towels, not bothering with formalities or pleasantries. Regardless, the girls thanked the soldiers.

"Your Majesties, welcome." the soldier who had thrown the rope and then cut it said, sheathing his Bowie knife. "Nothing's looking good, but we're rearranging some architecture."

Inside the tower were ten soldiers total, a few using pickaxes and sledgehammers to break a hole in the back of the tower, creating an opening leading to the buttress arching to the keep. Upon breaking through a section of wall, immediately one of the soldiers dropped his pickax, tied one end of rope around his hauberk between the two belts guards and soldiers wore, the middle of the rope coiled up on the floor, and the end of the rope tied around a huge upright barrel full of wine, and the soldier crawled through the hole and along the buttress, gripping the sides of the arch as winds flowed through his armour making him cold, also causing his hauberk to jingle continuously.

A crossbowman knelt at the start of the buttress, stabilizing himself so that he could shoot at the Kargaroks if they became aggressive. It looked like quite a scary crawl towards the keep, but the structures at the very top of the castle were far from danger, for now.

"Keep going, I'll cover you." the crossbowman said, lifting his crossbow as he spoke, eyeing the Kargaroks warily with as much visibility his helmet could provide, but it looked like most of them would be swooping at the busy soldiers at the top of the keep shooting down from there.

All the way at the ground below the crawling soldier were the hordes of Bulblins running around aimlessly, and then the Darknuts who had amassed at the entrance of the keep. The gunners and crossbowmen in the towers continued harassing the enemy, and Bulblin archers continued shooting back.

"Wohhh!" Matthias exclaimed with relief while sitting on a crate, gently rubbing his hands together from the burning pain of pulling on rope. Wearing armour definitely made the climb harder for his arms, shoulders, neck and legs.

"Heh heh, things don't look very good for us." Maned Zelda remarked while rubbing her head with a towel, speaking with a voice definitely not defeated, but trying to think of a way to win.

"I watched you fight and command your sisters through the window, you did well, Lionheart." the soldier who had sheathed his Bowie knife remarked.

"Really? Sure doesn't feel like it, Darrell. I don't know what happened to Crazy, but she's still out there. I don't know where the other Zeldas are." the maned Zelda replied, grabbing her immense hair in both hands and pulling two equal halves over the front of her shoulders, then tying the ends together, really making herself look like she had a lion's mane, or like a Norse pagan woman.

"Hm, the black-eyed princess was inside the castle earlier today, or so I heard from another guard before finishing my patrol to this tower." another soldier said.

"Speaking of patrols, what happened? Why were the gates left open?" Matthias asked worriedly, shivering a little from being wet, but the soldiers just shrugged.

"Someone left the castle while the guards fled for some reason, then those knights just charged in from nowhere. We don't know what happened." a gunner replied, checking the wheel lock of his arquebus. "At least wheel-locks can still fire in the rain." he continued. Who on earth was chasing the guards around before the Darknuts charged in? Thunder rumbled powerfully above the tower.

"Well, whatever. We've got a fight to fight! Our only chance is to retreat into the keep and regroup with the other soldiers, and make a last stand. The Darknuts are so lumbering and slow, they won't easily go up the staircases, and will be forced to dismount. We will use their numbers against them." Lionheart said, eyes furrowing, she definitely thinking of a plan. The soldier with the sheathed Bowie knife, Darrell, turned to face the hole, and gestured to it.

"One by one, we will take turns crossing the buttress with rope tied around the waist, that's the safest way to do it, just in case the high winds or Kargaroks take you off the buttress." he said.

The soldier who had already crawled across reaching the end of the buttress, and then he unteid the rope around his waist, jumped up and pulled himself atop the masonry at the end of the buttress, then climbed by the spaces between the bricks to reach the area around the top of the keep. There was just a very short stone wall surrounded the walkway atop the keep leading to the stairways and then the central structure atop the keep. Long ago, a hero once battled an ancient enemy inside there with the help of an alien princess.

Along the short crenellation were perhaps fifty soldiers with longbows, arquebuses or calivers, and crossbows, shooting through in-between the buttresses and down upon the enemies below along the walls or near the walls at ground level when able, and sometimes at the Kargaroks who attacked them. Soldiers also bashed the stocks of their crossbows or guns into the Kargaroks, archers unsheathing a sword or dagger with their free hand to fight the annoying pterosaurs or whatever they were.

"OK, he's up there!" the crossbowman kneeling at the buttress of the tower containing most of the princesses yelled, and then another soldier grabbed the rope and pulled on it until it was back inside the tower.

"Alright, who wants to go next?" the soldier holding the rope asked, the crossbowman stepping into the tower to allow the next person to crawl through the hole.

"Me. The castle needs my leadership." Lionheart said, and then she found herself crawling across the buttress while gripping the edges at either side, rope tied around her waist, wind blowing her hair so strongly it untied itself and now looked like a wet curtain flowing in the wind!

"Don't fall!" Vampire teased, but that did not happen. The Lionhearted Princess rubbed her face sometimes, quite a waste of time due to so much rain, but she reached the end of the buttress as lightning struck rapidly for a few seconds, and then climbed up the next two sections of stonework, and so reached the keep, the soldiers nearby giving her loose, playful salutes.

"Welcome!" an arquebusier greeted.

"You're just in time for some easy pickings!" a crossbowman exclaimed, shooting his crossbow, nailing a Bulbin in the forehead and it fell over the walls down below.

"Those goblins are as dumb as rocks, their arrows can't even reach this high without the wind blowing their arrows back down!" a longbowman pointed out; indeed, shooting against gravity and wind was not easy.

"I have better things to do than that!" Lionheart shouted, surprising the soldiers who spoke to her, then she ran off, a giant mechanical door opening for her and allowing her to enter the castle and see what was going on inside, the sounds of battle echoing from the main floor.

Meanwhile, the twin Zeldas made it across one after the other without any problem, but some Kargaroks were flying overheard in circles. Then, Matthias was crawling across the buttress, shaking like a leaf in his armour, and glad no-one could see him shaking in his armour; he could just keep his face down and feel with his hands as rain leaked down his shirt. The wind and rain made him very cold, knees rubbing against the stone painfully, Matthias moving slowly and weakly, the powerful thunder causing the buttress to shake sometimes, which made him feel more afraid.

"Keep going, you're doing good! Don't worry about falling, the rope around your armour will make sure you don't fall, you'll just swing in and hit the tower at worst!" the crossbowman shouted, but that did not comfort Matthias very much, who often rubbed his face to get water out of it, which was a futile attempt for obvious reasons. After what felt like an eternity, Matthias was about halfway across the buttress, and heard a screech.

"Watch out!" the crossbowman and Vampire shouted, and Matthias hugged the buttress as tightly as he could, and the talons of a Kargarok scratched his backplate. The crossbowman aimed and pulled the lever, and shot at the Kargarok, the bolt whizzing passed its head, frightening it away. Matthias crawled on, and soon reached the end of the buttress, and climbed up the side of the keep. He then felt something tug on his back, preventing him from moving any farther, remembering that he forgot to untie the rope, hearing the crossbowman shouting about just that, so he did so, and went up to the top of the keep, a soldier helping him get over the crenellation as lightning struck in the sky.

"OK, we should now get multiple people to go at once, the Kargaroks won't attack then, I bet." Darrell suggested, and so Vampire and Black Panther crawled across the buttress, the same length of rope tied to their waists but leaving ten feet of space between them, Vampire at the front. Two arquebusiers were moving slowly on their knees behind the two princesses, knees sliding forwards one by one, one length of rope tied to their waists but having ten feet of space between the two. The crossbowman was winding the windlass of his crossbow to reload it.

"They better not fall. I don't think the barrel of wine can hold so much weight." Darrell mumbled to himself, looking at the two lengths of rope tied to the barrel; there was nothing else extremely heavy to tie the ropes onto. Unsurprisingly, several Kargaroks swooped from above, either diving with their peaks presented or sticking their legs forwards and spreading their talons.

"Watch out!" Darrell and two other soldiers from within the tower screamed, the crossbowman, who had reloaded his crossbow, shot at the incoming Kargaroks, hitting one in the chest and it spiralled down. The two arquebusiers sat on their heels, aimed their guns, and fired, but both missed due to the natural inaccuracy of the arquebus, but the noise and smoke scared off two Kargaroks, but three remained.

Two of the Kargaroks dove at Vampire and Black Panther, Vampire screaming and covering her head, Black Panther unsheathing her longsword, sitting on her heels and stabbing it at the incoming birds. The third Kargarok attacked the soldiers, beaks and talons clinking against their armour while they tried to bash the winged beasts with their guns or punch them.

"Zelda!" Vampire squealed as one of the Kargaroks grasped her with its talons, and then flew off with her as she kicked and screamed, until the rope extended as far as it could, dragging Black Panther a little sideways, so she slammed her sword against the buttress, left it there, and grabbed the rope behind Vampire with both hands, pulling on it while the Kargarok tried to fly away, wondering why it was unable to. The other Kargarok kept clawing and pecking Black Panther but she refused to let go. A rush of wind made her stomach feel like it was rising in her body, making everything worse.

Twenty or more soldiers from the keep noticed and shot their projectiles at the Kargaroks harassing the princesses, but most missed, a few Kargaroks shot down while Vampire was wriggling in the air as a few arrows, bolts and bullets missed her. The twin Zeldas, who were watching from the keep, covered their mouths from nervousness. A few arrows and bolts hit the two soldiers behind the princesses, and Black Panther felt a bolt whiz passed her head, cutting some strands of hair, causing her to put a hand over her head for a second. A bullet hit the buttress in front of her, kicking bits of rock up at her.

"HEY! STOP SHOOTING AT US YOU STUPID IDIOTS!" Black Panther growled, and at that, the soldiers at the keep stopped being so careless, but the Kargaroks got scared and hesitated at least.

"Did they hit anything?" Matthias asked aloud randomly, hands on the crenellation and jumping up and down.

"Quick, get me a bow or something!" Darrell yelled, the two soldiers already on the buttresses preoccupied with fighting several new Kargaroks attacking them. A bow and an arrow was showed to Darrell. "Get out of the way!" Darrell spat, grabbing the crossbowman from behind, who was reloading his crossbow, and pulling him backwards into the tower, his back hitting the floor. Darrell then grabbed the bow and arrow from the other soldier's hands, nocking the arrow, pushed the stave forwards while pulling the string back, and shot the arrow, hitting the Kargarok attacking Black Panther, which spun around and glided away wounded.

Meanwhile, down below, Ganondorf had reached the entrance, pushing and unhorsing the Darknuts in his way, his black stallion also writhing and shoving aside other armoured horses out of the way. The king obviously heard the echoes of battle resonating out the entrance to the castle, as the huge double doors were forced open fully, but he also heard some screaming. He paused and looked up.

Vampire's wriggling and screaming, Black Panther's now untroubled grip, and the heavy winds and rainfall was quite the nuisance for the Kargarok trying to fly off with Vampire, but it soon felt too much strain, and was forced to let go. Screaming with greater terror, Vampire fell down, Black Panther's eyes broadening, Vampire falling until the rope from her to Black Panther fully extended, pulling Black Panther against the buttress and leaving Vampire dangling facing downwards, arms and legs moving as if she was trying to swim through the air.

"ZELDA! PULL ME UP!" Vampire shouted while closing her eyes, and then started screaming for the sake of screaming while flailing her limbs. Ganondorf saw this.

"You don't see that everyday." Ganondorf said to himself as Vampire screamed away; he did not see the aura of the Triforce so high up.

Black Panther gradually pulled up the squealing princess, who climbed back atop the buttress when she could, skin extremely white, breathing rapidly and weakly, shaking like crazy, and tears streaming down her face. Vampire was so terrified she could barely move, so once Black Panther sheathed her sword, she placed her hands on her little sister's shoulders to comfort her.

"We're almost at the end of the buttress, almost, just a little more, we need to do it." Black Panther comforted, hugging Vampire, rainwater trickling down both of them.

"Wwwublblblblblblblblbl..." Vampire quivered, lips slowly vibrating but unable to form words, sounding like a pathetic baby with a scrunched-up face.

Down below, Ganondorf was unsure of how to react. What the heck were people doing up there?

"Hey, is that Ganondorf?" someone whispered from within the hedges, which Ganondorf overheard, so he got his horse to walk out the mass of overeager Darknuts and looked at the sections of hedges the Darknuts did not trample.

"Wait, is Crazy gone?" another voice whispered.

"Yes, I think she's gone." some other voice whispered, and then the big fat guard's head popped out the top of the hedge he hid in, which, oddly enough, seemed awfully too small for he to hide in. He looked around, helmet turning side to side. "Yeah, she's gone, it's safe to come out now." the big fat guard continued, and then the hedges rustled, and like twenty soldiers appeared, stepping out the hedges they hid in, which did not seem capable of containing that many men!

"Ah ha! If it isn't Ganondorf himself." one of the soldiers said while beating his sword and kite shield together, walking coolly towards the king and the very many Darknuts, some of whom noticed the soldiers.

"I've waited a long time for this." a spearman remarked, gripping his spear tightly.

"My little friend sure has been dying to meet you." a halberdier threatened, referring to his halberd. At all of this, Ganondorf was a little surprise.

"You have no chance. Surrender now or you will just embarrass yourselves." Ganondorf scoffed, and then noticed a swordsman without a shield slid his thumb across his gorget, and then the twenty soldiers charged while screaming rather unimpressive war cries.

A few dozen Darknuts, upon overhearing the charging soldiers, reared their horses to the side and trotted forth to fight, Ganondorf unsheathing a sword, the Warlock Blade, just in time to parry a spear thrust to his helm and countering with a chop into the spearman's helm, and then with his left hand, Ganondorf threw an orb of electricity at a charging swordsman, the magic hitting the swordsman's kite shield and shocking him anyways. The Warlock Blade was a peculiar sword, the blade itself made from the entirety of the Sword of the Sages, melted into a tapering blade, then given a long cruciform hilt. It did not have a large pommel, the bottom of the tang instead flaring outwards in all directions, looking like a flanged mace.

The Darknuts swerved passed the king and charged, a spearman with a metal scutum setting it down, kneeling behind it, and thrusting his spear at a charging Darknut knight, spearhead glancing off the horse's armour, but the horse rammed into the shield and tripped over it. A swordsman swung his sword upward, deflecting an incoming lance, and then was hit by a Darknut's ikakalaka and knocked off his feet, links of mail flying everywhere. The Darknuts drove down most of the soldiers, the Hylian guards' shields and armour not enough to withstand the great blows of the hulking knights and hooves of their steeds.

The big fat guard, who could run quite quickly, unsheathed his sword, slashing aside a lance darting for him, then skipping out of the way of another Darknut's lance and horse, then ran forth and jumped, drop-kicking another Darknut clean off his horse, which continued galloping. The big fat guard got up and slashed his sword across the legs of another Darknut destrier, hurting it enough to cause it to face-plant and throw the rider into the ground.

Nearby, the halberdier spun around to and fro while swinging his halberd, which was long enough to chop into the helms of the Darknuts. He also hooked the fluke onto a Darknut's gorget as he rode passed him, and pulled the Darknut off his horse. The halberdier then swung the fluke as strongly as he could into a Darknut about to drive his lance into a swordsman, fluke piercing the breastplate, and then the halberdier pulled as strong as he could and got the Darknut off his horse. After that, another Darknut hit him across the helm and took him down, and then the twenty soldiers were trampled or hit down, and that was the end of that.

"Amateurs." Ganondorf mumbled, then turned his attention to the castle, wondering if there was an easier way to get in than pushing passed so many Darknuts?


	17. Chapter 17 - Fortitude

**Chapter 17**

 **Fortitude**

The siege continued, but a majority of Darknuts and Bulblins remained outside for now, the indomitable mass of iron clogged at the entrance to the keep, but they would inevitably break into it. Meanwhile, dozens of Bulblins scoured the walls as well as the stone pathways around the keep, and the soldiers in the towers constantly shot crossbows or arquebuses at their enemies.

Having reached safety, the twins, Black Panther, Vampire, and Matthias sat down for a break, whilst Darrell and the other soldiers at his tower crossed the buttress two by two, continuing their safe approach of tying themselves first, of course. Vampire was still scared, shaking as she sat with her back against the battlements, so Matthias, who sat beside her, put an arm around her shoulders and leaned to her.

"We'll be OK soon, let's go inside." he told her, Vampire biting her lower lip and sniffling a little, eyes always down. She really hated to be seen like this by Matthias, but everyone else did not seem to care. She raised her eyes a little, seeing with the corner of her eyes the soldiers as they shot their guns, crossbows and longbows, sometimes aiming up to shoot at the Kargaroks.

"Yeah, let's go inside." a twin said.

"Before we catch a cold." the other remarked, and at that, the princesses and Matthias headed to the giant door leading into the keep. Darrell had just crossed the buttress, rope not tied to him, and he waited for the remaining men to cross as well.

Inside Hyrule Castle, some renovations had occurred. No longer were stairways and floors filled with abyssal holes and cracks, these now repaired, and additional doors and new rooms here and there lead deeper into the keep, so that most rooms connected to other adjacent rooms, allowing easier and quicker access throughout the keep. Paintings, tapestries emblazoned with the insignia of Hyrule, statues, suits of armour, chandeliers, red and blue carpets, smokeless torches, windows including some stained-glass ones, and various classical decorations adorned the features of the architecture.

Maned Zelda went down a staircase, the walls having torches behind barred sections in the walls, and reached a chamber with round shields and spears on the walls and two windows at the corner to the left showing the stormy conditions outside. Another staircase was to the right, which led to a similar chamber and another staircase to the right, which then led to a larger chamber with tiled floor. This chamber had arched walls, and was quite dark for some odd reason. Overhearing battle echoing from the main floor was no surprise, and at that, Lionheart paused.

"Wait up, sis!" Vampire called from behind, running after her older sister, so the maned Zelda turned around, seeing Vampire, Matthias, Black Panther and the twins, and then twelve soldiers consisting of four longbowmen, four crossbowmen, and four arquebusiers led by Darrell far behind the girls, Darrell no longer holding a longbow as he did before crawling across the buttress, now just holding a sword.

"Don't think you're gonna go-" a twin called, only to be interrupted by her sister.

"Fight for the castle without us!" the other twin continued, and soon, the princesses and Matthias reached Lionheart, Darrell and the twelve other soldiers making their way to the spooky chamber.

"Oh, this room... my dad used to tell me that ghosts haunt this room." Matthias remarked, and thunder roared outside, and the flash of lightning illuminated the windows for a moment. The double doors of this chamber leading outside banged loudly suddenly, causing Vamprie to gasp, the cries of Bulblins sounding, their clubs thudding against the doors.

"How stupid are they?" a twin remarked.

"Do they really think sticks can break through doors?" the other twin continued.

"Well, whatever, let them tire themselves out. Let's go down that stairwell." Lionheart said, for there was a stairwell at the corner of this chamber, part of the renovations that occurred some years ago. They went down the stairwell before the thirteen soldiers reached them. The stairwell led up and down, but everyone went down, and appeared in a slightly swerving hallway with a blue carpet. This hallway had various rooms, some of which led to other rooms.

"OK girls, let's go arm ourselves, then regroup at the main hall." Lionheart said, and at that, the teen-aged princesses dispersed, each entering different rooms, and disappeared, presumably heading to their own bedrooms. Vampire and Matthias looked at each other.

"Hey Matthias, let's go to my room!" Vampire said eagerly, grabbing the boy's arm and pulling on him.

"What? Why? We have to fight!" Matthias implored as if about to burst.

"Oh pff, fighting is for grown-ups! Let's go play!" Vampire replied, for whatever reason having a sudden urge to act like a child, but Matthias gave-up and allowed himself to be pulled, and off the two went, disappearing beyond some nearby doors, the sounds of clinking mail and footfall behind them.

Once Darrell and his twelve men went down the stairwell and, one by one, appeared in the hallway, they spread apart and looked around, wondering where the princesses went.

"Uh, where did they go?" a crossbowman asked.

"Whatever, let's head to the main hall! Let's go!" Darrell shouted as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and the dutiful soldiers obeyed without thinking, and off they went, running down the hallway and nearly breaking through the double doors up ahead.

Lionheart had went to her room somewhere deeper into the keep, and it was quite fitting for a lady, similar to Pear's room, but the walls being heavily adorned with various weaponry on them, as well as various armour stands here and there, alluding to this princess' military interests. She dried herself off, got a new dress made of multiple layers of thickly padded silk, and stepped out her bedroom, slamming the door, which echoed, and then lightning whipped outside. Maned Zelda had her hair so that the back half of it hung down her back like a curtain, but the front half hung over the front of her shoulders, then the ends tied together.

The maned princess now wore another dress in the same shape as her formal attire, but it was larger and made of a mesh of interconnected rings—mail—instead of cloth, with integrated mail mittens, but no coif. The mail dress was tailored to match the shape of her body for maximum comfort and flexibility, and the flaring mail gown reached her ankles. Under the skirt of mail, she wore chausses. Over the mail armour, she wore sabatons, greaves, poleyns, and cuisses, the skirt of mail flowing over the leg harness, and she also wore gauntlets with studs at the knuckles, spaulders, and a gorget, all plate armour darkly gilded but not decorated with any symbols.

The shaft of a poleaxe leaned against the front of her left shoulder, the poleaxe five feet tall and consisting of axe blade, top spike and butt spike, forked hammer, and the shaft reinforced with langets.

Lionheart wore a sword-belt, and sheathed at her side was a longsword with a narrow, slender blade and a pointed tip, having a crossguard with the quillons terminating into stud-like points, a narrow purple handle, and a small flanged pommel. At her other side was a dagger, essentially a miniature version of her longsword. Long ago, Lionheart's sword was once wielded by an ancestral monarch who surrendered to an alien king from an alien land.

In her hands, Zelda held a darkly gilded great helm, padded inside, and put it on her head. The great helm was in shape of a fierce lion about to roar, the opened mouth serving as a breathing passage whilst the fangs and teeth protected the opening, and the face of the beast covering her own face so that she could see through the eyes. The protrusive muzzle served as a solid visor. The helm was complete with a metal mane that somewhat protected the shoulders. Her bright brown hair hanging beneath her helm, and the gilded colouring of her helm, really did make her look like a lion!

Gripping her poleaxe in both hands, Lionheart jogged down the hallway, mail jingling, heading for battle. After passing through a few doors and running down a few hallways, the sounds of battle becoming louder and louder, she swung open double doors that led to an interior balcony revealing a huge, beautiful, somewhat octagonal domed chamber, wider than it was long, with pillars supporting arches. Standing at the balcony Lionheart just entered were four crossbowmen, all of whom turned their heads to see who just barged through the door, but it was just the princess. This balcony was the north-east one, between a higher one to the east and one to the west of the same height. These were some of the rearrangements done in the past to make the castle easier to defend, as there was quite a lot of excess space.

A dozen or so large golden chandeliers with crystal decorations hanging from the arms hung from the ceiling, casting enough light to illuminate the fighting below. The chandeliers shook whenever thunder or lightning powerfully appeared.

The sides of the huge chamber had staircases leading up to the various balconies, the balconies at the far sides higher than the two at the middle, the balconies having doors leading to various rooms and hallways. Up to several crossbowmen and gunners stood at each balcony, shooting down upon the Darknuts, but the heavy shields and armour of the Darknuts withstood the projectiles, however, at closer range, the gunners' bullets dented the Darknuts' armour.

Lionheart rushed to the railings, nearly shoving in-between two crossbowmen in her way, putting her hands on the railings and leaning over it, feeling the heat of the two torches at either side of her, and watched the fighting below. The Darknuts had literally pushed their way into the keep, going down the short but immense hallway that opened up to the main chamber, most of the Darknuts still on horseback, the destriers swerving their shoulders and trying to get through the spears and halberds in their way whilst their riders lunged their lances or swung their swords.

A mass block of perhaps three hundred Hylian soldiers had formed, those at the front kneeling so that the butt of their spear or halberd was on the floor, and both hands gripping the shaft to direct the weapon, whereas those behind them held their polearms overhead those kneeling, and the third row held their polearms in both hands in an overhand manner, so that the polearm was pointing forwards over the shoulders of those in front of them. Some spearmen held kite shields or large rectangular shields, a scutum, planting the scutum on the floor. The formation was large enough to block-off the hallway, preventing the Darknuts from pouring into the chamber, for now.

Commanding the formation at the very front was the castellan, the middle-aged nobleman who had fled Crazy some chapters ago, who just wore a dark red gambeson and no other armour, armed with an arming sword. In his left arm he carried a flag bearing the insignia of Hyrule, so that the pole was resting upwards along the left side of his chest, so that he could fight with his right hand freely. By the looks of it, he had retreated into the keep sometime ago, but was wounded, bleeding down his face and arms.

"I hold high the imperial banner! Stand by me, my brave soldiers!" the castellan rallied as the fighting raged.

However, by this time, the Darknuts had trampled over perhaps a hundred Hylian soldiers along and after the entrance, and the trampled men were stuck under the immense weight of the armoured Darknuts and their armoured steeds. The warhorses frightened the soldiers.

"Attack the horses' faces, then when they rear, attack their unprotected bellies! Work your spears and halberds together!" the castellan shouted, striking a horse's shaffron and then parrying a lance aimed for his unarmoured head.

The Darknuts on horseback used their mounts as fighting platforms, standing in the stirrups so that they could swing their huge ikakalakas or flanged maces down upon their enemies, but the Darknuts also bashed the bottom rim of their shields down and blocked attacks with them. Darknuts who still held lances repeatedly jabbed them forwards, the length of their lances, whilst they were mounted on horses, allowed them to stab back at the wall of polearms. Polearms of both sides often criss-crossed and parried one another, but it were the horses, who had no means to defend themselves, who received the brunt of attacks.

The arquebusiers and crossbowmen shot their projectiles as fast as they could, guns cracking, the echoing of gunfire greatly amplified inside the chamber. After shooting, the crossbowmen would operate whatever mechanical device their crossbow had, such as a ratchet, windlass or lever, and reloading was quite slow. Gunners would fire, then hold their wheellock in one hand, pour new black powder from a small flask down the barrel, put a lead ball into the barrel, withdraw the ramrod from under the barrel to push the ball down it, wind the wheel-lock to open it, pour black powder into the opened wheel-lock, then they would aim and fire; the wheel-lock would spin, causing a spark and so igniting the powder, firing the gun. Much smoke was produced even from just a few guns.

The horses received much punishment, spears and halberds constantly attacking their shaffrons and front legs, horses sometimes biting the spearheads, or rearing and swiping their hooves repeatedly at polearms and helmets. The castellan swung his sword repeatedly at the hooves pawing for him to save his face from being smashed apart, and then a spearman with a scutum ran forth and rammed his big shield into the horse's legs, blocking the hooves.

Another horse reared, and then a short chubby soldier at the front rank suddenly charged it, hooves thudding against his helm and shoulders but his shortness meant that the giant swords swung by Darknuts missed him, and he drove his spear into the underside of the rearing horse where no armour covered it, the horse immediately neighing and falling backwards over its rump upon being skewered by the spear, and then fell over its rider, kicking repeatedly. The unhorsed Darknut tried to pick himself up, but he was under his horse and so stuck, and more Darknuts took the space available. The spearman was hit across the helm by an ikakalaka by another Darknut who leaned acutely over his saddle, the blow hitting him with such force he was felled.

Halberdiers, having much larger and heavier weapons, were able to swung heavy blows into the Darknut destriers' shaffrons and front legs, the impact capable of dazing the warhorses when hit in their armoured heads, but a chop into the front leg brought them down. The fluke and bottom point of the axe head of the halberd was also used to hook shields, horses' legs, gorgets, arms, and any other part of armour that could be hooked, to try and bring the rider down or at least harass him.

The halberdiers and spearmen worked together just as the castellan instructed, so that if a Darknut's shield was hooked and pulled aside, other halberdiers or spearmen would attack the Darknut or his horse. The tall fat soldiers were especially useful, being strong enough to at least partially match the power of a Darknut.

Some unhorsed Darknuts walking amongst their mounted counterparts reached the formation of spears and halberds, shields raised to block the polearms, and then the Darknut would lunge in with a diving push kick followed by a powerful overhand chop, receiving spearheads and halberds to the helm, but nevertheless attacking back.

The few Darknuts on foot were capable of protecting themselves better, as only the front two rows of soldiers could reach them. They quickly went into face-to-face combat, exchanging blows, Darknuts also bashing their shields, kicking, pushing, and ramming their shoulders into the soldiers' formation, to disarray the assortment of fixed polearms and break the formation. Likewise, the soldiers sometimes kicked, punched, pushed, headbutted, and those with kite shields or scuti smashed them back at their foes.

"Keep your knees bent when they push!" the castellan instructed, parrying a lance with the pole of his flag and then waving it over the mounted Darknut's visor to blind him.

Bolts and bullets continued flying down upon the Darknuts with minor effect, but since they were shot from much closer range that from the towers, the projectiles dented the armour, specifically bullets. The occasional projectile that made its way into the eye slits of a visor shot into the Darknut's face and caused some damage.

One Darknut in purple armour had his shield hooked by two halberdiers, who pulled it down. Knowing that his shield was useless, the Darknut let go of his shield and raised his mace and left arm, grabbing a halberd by its head with his free hand and then swinging his mace down upon a halberdier, crushing his helm and knocking him out cold, but at the same time, the fluke of another halberd swung into his helm and punctured it. The purple Darknut knelt from pain, and then a spearman lunged his spear upwards from below, spearhead going in-between the top of the breastplate and underneath the bottom of the helm, and then driving into the knight's neck.

The fighting reached a point when Hylian soldiers were squished against the Darknuts, so much that they were locked shoulder-to-shoulder, face-to-face, some not having enough room to swing their arms, the unhorsed Darknuts having a similar problem. Seeing a close-quarter fight coming, some spearmen threw their spears like javelins, and then unsheathed their swords.

The Hylian soldiers resorted to dropping their halberds, allowing them to fall and lean over whoever was in its way, to unsheathe swords or daggers, bashing with the pommel and crossguard or stabbing into the gaps or joints of armour. Likewise, Darknuts on foot who had arming swords—their backup weapon—would smash their pommels into helms or chopped into helmets or incoming weapons.

Very few soldiers had carried wheellock pistols, having primed and loaded them beforehand; once up-close, they would hold whatever weapon in one hand, withdraw their pistol with their free hand, ram the barrel into a visor or opening of the Darknuts' armour, then fire, with good results. A single point-blank shot into the visor resulted in the bullet squeezing into the opening and shooting into the skull, killing the Darknut outright. Those shot when pistols were rammed into the openings of their armour elsewhere were seriously injured, and incapacitated.

The arquebusiers and crossbowmen atop the balconies continued shooting as well. Reinforcements came, consisting of small groups of soldiers who appeared from the balconies, who then went down the staircases to join the fight down below.

Lionheart saw her twin sisters appear at the high balcony across from her, recognizable in their identical Maximilian armour, armours very shiny and polished but left plain, though engraved with a golden Triforce at the breastplate. The twins had longsword and dagger sheathed at their sides, and held poleaxes sheathed in steel in their hands, running with a group of soldiers with swords and kite shields, but would need to wait their turn to fight, as too many soldiers stood in the way.

The Darknuts on horseback stood in their stirrups and swung their ikakalakas, arming swords or maces down upon the hapless soldiers, who could just hold their polearms upwards weakly in their compact struggle. Once able, up to a few soldiers would jump upon a single Darknut's horse, grabbing the rider by the legs, shield, arms or crest of the helm, to try and drag him off his horse. Once this was done, up to several soldiers would kneel upon a single unhorsed Darknut to keep him down, unsheathe daggers, and try to push the daggers into eye slits of the visors or anywhere else the armour had gaps or openings. While they did this, other Darknuts brought their weapons down upon the soldiers, but kicking, shoving, tripping, headbutting and shield-bashing also occurred.

It was not long until the fallen became a ridge of overlapping bodies, most not dead, trapped under great weight. Darknuts on horseback had their horses jump or walk over the jagged mound of piled bodies of fallen Darknuts, horses and Hylian soldiers, and continued the fight, horses landing upon men. After jumping over or off the top of the piles of bodies, a few Darknut horses ended up falling upon raised spears or halberds, and were stabbed from underneath their armour, the horse then dropping upon the soldiers and trapping them under itself. Hylians and Darknuts trapped under overlapping bodies squirmed like worms while trapped, but no-one had time to unravel them.

From what Lionheart had seen, it was nothing short of chaos, prolonging an inevitable defeat. To make everything worse, the formation of soldiers gradually broke, as the horde of Darknuts continued pushing themselves forwards, moving like a glacier of steel wanting to avalanche. The brute force and size of the Darknuts was just too much, with mounted and unhorsed Darknuts pushing deeper through the formation, piercing it.

Once soldiers began falling and tripping by one another, the Darknuts spread apart and made their way to the two staircases at both sides of the chamber, to ascend them and push the assault, bullets and bolts whizzing at them. Formation pierced, some soldiers lost courage and shoved or jumped out of the way, and then tried to flee up the staircases. Lionheart sprang to action, running down the staircase to rally the men, but some ran passed her anyways.

"Oh, come on! Could Hyrule's destiny really depend on such cowardly men? Come back, cowards!" Lionheart complained, but the soldiers fleeing ignored her anyways, bumping into her as they ran, making it harder for her to enter the fight.

Witnessing the faltering formation, with more soldiers panicking and trying to run away, the bloodied castellan jumped atop the hill of bodies, waving the flag proudly while swinging his sword to and fro against multiple Darknuts, who were surprised by the sudden bravado, parrying swords and lances going at him with sword and flag and push kicking Darknuts in the head.

"STAND BY ME, MY BRAVE SOLDIERS!" the castellan screamed, and then an unhorsed Darknut swung his mace sideways across the castellan's legs with such force he flipped sideways in the air, incapacitating him.

Upon the fall of the standard bearer, several by several, soldiers broke formation and fled, retreating up the staircases if they could, running passed Darknuts who had no problem swinging their weapons at fleeing prey. Lionheart swerved in-between the fleeing men, seeing mounted Darknuts trotting up the stairs and busily swinging down upon the soldiers, unhorsed Darknuts pursuing behind, so she hopped upon the railings, and then jumped off them, swinging the hammer side of her poleaxe into a mounted Darknut's helm, hitting him with enough force to cause him to lean over his saddle, but he did not fall off of it. Lionheart swung her poleaxe again at the leaning Darknut, hitting him in the side, but was unable to unhorse him. She was not as strong as the men, but definitely braver.

The crossbowmen and arquebusiers at the balconies, upon seeing so many enemies and fleeing allies going their way, panicked and fled, retreating into the double doors, allowing some companions to enter. They would have closed the doors, even to lock out fellow soldiers, but too many fled, forcing the doors open, until Darknuts and soldiers swarmed at the doors! Darknuts on horseback jumped off them, obviously unable to fit through the doors, and continued to fight the swarm of panicking soldiers.

Lionheart was disappointed, and soon trampled by the mass of fleeing soldiers and pursuing Darknuts. Amidst the chaos, she lost grip of her poleaxe, but managed to squirm amidst the hooves and feet to the railings, and crawled over them, falling down, but landing on her feet and rolling forwards over the shoulders and was back on her feet. Immediately, she unsheathed her longsword and charged the mass of Darknuts ahead of her, alone.


	18. Chapter 18 - The Last Stand

**Chapter 18**

 **The Last Stand**

Ahead of Lionheart were very few Hylian soldiers, no more than twenty still standing, the bravest men here who refused to flee, or were too engrossed by their situation that they did not realize many fled. The Darknuts, vastly outnumbering the soldiers that remained, easily overwhelmed them, smashing them down. The Darknuts further back were more likely to have kept holding their lances, but most at the front lines discarded theirs by this time.

The lionhearted princess' Triforce glowed powerfully, then she went into a sprint, a mounted Darknut swinging his mace at her, but she dodged around it, jumped upon the top of an unhorsed Darknut's shield and then stood on his pauldrons, unsheathed her longsword, gripped it in both hands by the blade, and began swinging it around violently, flanged pommel and pointed quillons striking the Darknut's helm rapidly.

The Darknut she stood on was quite surprised, as were those nearby him and they made no reaction for a few seconds. The Darknut Lionheart stood upon shuffled in his armour, intending to swing his ikakalaka upwards and hit the crazy princess off himself, but Lionheart jumped off him, twirling in the air to dodge a few of those huge swords and a lance, then landing on the neck of a horse. The horse swerved a little but did not seem to care.

Surprising the rider, who raised his mace and shield, Lionheart flipped her sword around so that she held it by the handle with one hand, and then leaned sideways to dodge a lance that lunged at her from elsewhere, and then leaned the other way to dodge the rider's mace. Lionheart quickly and immediately hooked one end of the quillons over the top rim of the Darknut's shield while grabbing the shield with her free hand, pulled the shield back, then rammed the top spike into the knight's visor, piercing his eye socket and then brain, ending him. As the Darknut slowly leaned over and was about to fall off his saddle, his horse reared, and Lionheart jumped off the horse's neck just as it reared, which threw her strongly away. Several Darknuts watched her fly.

"She sure can get around." one of the Darknuts remarked, watching Lionheart land like a cat on the railing of the other staircase (the staircase at the western side).

Fighting on the staircase was a group of Hylian soldiers with swords and kite shields, behind them the twins, who as a reminder wore Maximilian plate armour. The swordsmen had arranged themselves into a square, blocking off the staircase about halfway up, and had made some success.

Since the Darknuts had to ascend the stairs, and were so top-heavy in their armour, the soldiers literally threw themselves upon the Darknuts' helmets and raised shields, their weight enough to stagger or cause the Darknut to fall backwards, especially if the Darknut was half-way during a step and so only had one foot on the stairs.

The few Darknuts still on horseback were not unhorsed, stabilizing themselves by standing in the stirrups and grasping the reins with the same hand holding the shield, and swinging whatever weapon they had back, horses also biting at the incoming wave of soldiers.

Lionheart ran up the railings, passing several Darknuts and the group of swordsmen fighting, and jumped behind the formation, landing between her two sisters about halfway up the stairs.

"Oh, hello." one twin remarked.

"Thanks for stopping by." the other twin said, Lionheart and the twins ducking at the same time just a lance—that had been thrown from below—arched over them and struck the wall with a crash, bouncing off it and causing sparks as well as several nearby soldiers to flinch.

"Whoa!" one twin exclaimed as the three sisters stood back up.

"That was close!" the other finished, and then the Darknuts below, eager to fight but only so many Darknuts could go up the stairs at once, resorted to throwing their lances as if they were giant javelins, but they also threw their gigantic maces and ikakalakas, then unsheathing their regular but still long arming swords, which would be more useful in close-quarters.

The prospect of thrown weapons frightened the soldiers, as since they were as a block along the staircase, it was easier to throw things at them. The swordsmen instinctively raised their shields, but the immense size of the thrown maces, lances and ikakalakas struck shields with such force that some shattered, but most were hit back and struck the wielder in the helm. Some Hylian spearmen threw their spears back at the Darknuts, but the thrown spears were easily deflected by the Darknuts' shields or armour.

The few mounted Darknuts at this staircase got angry and pushed their hips forwards and clicked their armoured heels into their horses' sides, forcing their horses to ascend the staircase, swerving into the group of swordsman, who immediately started hacking their swords into the armoured horse to little effect while raising their shields to block the knights' weapons. The horses were too big and too powerful to stop, and three had simply shoved their way straight through the formation, so the twins sprang to action, swinging their poleaxes into the incoming horses' shaffrons, impact dazing them, and then striking at the riders repeatedly, who were still busy fending off the other Hylian soldiers, who were always trying to grab the Darknuts and pull them off their horses.

Lionheart turned her head, overhearing the cries of Bulblins and fighting echoing from the hallways, and she felt her heart sink. She was even more distraught when she realized that almost all soldiers fled the main hall, the two central balconies empty and doors left open carelessly. There were only Hylian soldiers at the western staircase, fighting with the twins, but they were only postponing their inevitable defeat. The eastern staircase was obviously lost, with more and more Darknuts still going up it, and they would soon take the inner walls.

"The Bulblins breached the doors leading into the castle?" she asked herself, wondering how it happened, and then saw a group of Bulblins running through the four doors leading into the main hall. Lionheart spun around to face the horned goblins.

"Behind us!" Lionheart shouted, several soldiers spinning around and seeing the dozen or so Bulblins brandishing clubs, and then several more Bulblins were hurled through the doorway as if thrown by a great force, which surprised Lionheart, some Bulblins turning around to see what happened, and then a few giant knights rushed through the doorway, trampling over Bulblins, one giant knight even grabbing a Bulblin in one hand by the neck and throwing him over the railings.

The giant knights who appeared were Hyrulean knights: only the largest, tallest, and bravest nobles could be such a heavy force, each Hyrulean knight as big as a Darknut or larger, wearing mail armour for the entire body and then over that heavy but partial plate armour. The plate armour was left to have a natural bright grey colour but did have gold trimmings here and there, as well as swirling gold engravings at the cuirass, greaves, cuffs of the gauntlets, front of the pauldrons, and front of the cuisses. The Triforce was also engraved at the plackart.

The Hyrulean knights' winged helmet was a sallet with a long visor like that for an armet, the back of the sallet extending as a tail to cover the back of the neck. Although the pauldrons had a risen section at the inside to protect the sides of the neck, the knights' armour was absent of a gorget or bevor, the neck protected only by mail, perhaps because they were so tall it was difficult for most enemies to reach their necks anyways.

The Hyrulean knights each wielded a long, thick spear, with a spearhead like a short thick sword blade. Sheathed at their sides were a longsword and dagger, and a mace, war hammer or battleaxe placed down a metal ring to hang next to the dagger.

A much smaller figure emerged from amidst the hulking Hyrulean knights, the figure wearing black Gothic plate armour, and like all other knightly warriors, had a longsword and dagger sheathed at the sides, but gripped a two-handed holy water sprinkler.

Immediately, the Hyrulean knights rushed to the stairs, Bulblins fleeing and some jumping over the railings to escape, and the Hyrulean knights rammed their spears into the Darknut destriers in the underside of their necks, injuring the horses enough to cause them to fall, and then stomped upon the unhorsed Darknuts before they could react, kicking their visors open then ramming a spearhead into the face, or if the Darknut wore a great helm, slid the spearhead underneath the helm into the neck. The Hylian soldiers cheered the arrival of their own knights.

"Stay back, we'll deal with the Darknuts, protect the princesses." one of the Hyrulean knights said, presumably a higher-ranking knight, and at that, the soldiers ran away from the Darknuts several by several, and the soldiers were replaced by Hyrulean knights, who engaged with the rising Darknuts.

"Finally some real mettle! I thought I'd die from tedium fighting these pathetic soldiers." a Darknut exclaimed, swinging his mace overhand while blocking a Hyrulean knight's spear with his shield, but then the Hyrulean knight let go of his spear by his left hand and grabbed the incoming mace by the shaft, stopping it, and the two tried to overcome one another.

Several Darknuts shouted their battle cries, striking their maces or swords against their shields, eager to fight other heavily armoured and large foes. The Hyrulean knights formed a wall with their spears, repeatedly jabbing them to strike shields and helmets, and both sides also utilized push-kicking, punching, headbutting, and shoving. Since the Darknuts were further down the stairs, when they were push-kicked in the head, they were likely to stagger or fall backwards upon the Darknuts behind them, which added to the besiegers' obstacles.

Fighting on stairs was not easy, especially when heavily armoured, and both sides sometimes slid on the edges of the stairs, slipping and so falling onto one's bottom. One Hyrulean knight jumped forth, waving upon the line of Darknuts, his weight on them causing a few to fall over, avalanching down with them and causing other Darknuts to trip or fall down the stairs loudly.

The other Hyrulean knights took the advantage, trampling atop the fallen Darknuts to keep them down while fighting other Darknuts farther down the stairs. Some Darknuts at floor level thrrew their ikakalakas, maces or lances at the Hyrulean knights, and so some Hyrulean knights threw their spears back, the projectiles of both sides striking with heavy force, some spears embedding into armour and getting stuck. Those who threw their spears withdrew their longsword, battleaxe, war hammer or mace, and continued to fight when able.

The figure in black Gothic plate armour ran up to Lionheart, several more Hyrulean knights passing the doorway to keep the fight going, and the rest of the Bulblins jumped over the railings to escape danger, not wanting to fight anymore.

"So, what did I miss?" Black Panther asked; Lionheart just shrugged.

"Your Majesties, you better withdraw further up the keep, we will fight the many Darknuts here. There are less Darknuts outside than inside, you have a better chance fighting through fewer of them, now go!" one of the Hyrulean knights said, Lionheart not wanting to retreat, seeing that Darknuts and Hyrulean knights were also trying to lift one another up to push them over the railings, one Hyrulean knight and one Darknut having already been pushed over the railings, they crashing down against the tiled floor and broke a few of them, and the Bulblins already down there scurried away.

"Good idea, we just couldn't stand up to those Darknuts, many of us were beaten down, or worse." one of the swordsmen remarked, panting, but Lionheart did not really want to flee. She noticed that the horde of Darknuts ascending the eastern staircase stopped increasing in numbers, having been stopped at the front of the line outside somewhere, many of them bumping into one another as a result, some horses whinnying.

"Miladies, please, you must get back to the top of the keep, it's our only chance to keep you safe. There are some other knights outside waiting for you, they will escort you." the Hyrulean knight continued.

"I don't know where some of my sisters are!" Lionheart shouted, obviously upset.

"We have already led some of them to the keep, they are safe, go regroup with your sisters." the Hyrulean knight said.

"There's nothing we can do, sis." one of the twins said.

"We have to keep moving." the other twin encouraged, and at that, the four princesses and perhaps thirty soldiers took their leave, going through the doorway and entering the hallway. Down the hallway were dozens of Hyrulean knights and Darknuts without horses, and many more Bulblins, the goblins' clubs not able to do very much against heavy armour, but they still fought as much as they could, but once a few Bulblins exclaimed their battle cries, many faced the soldiers and princesses and charged them.

The soldiers and the princesses fought their way through the horde of Bulblins, not much description needed to suggest they did not without too much trouble, soldiers bashing their shields into charging Bulblins and then hacking into their heads. Now wearing armour, and fully equipped, the princesses had little to fear, clubs that hit them hurting, but they had no problem fighting through the pesky goblins.

Up ahead, each Darknut grappled or pushed against a Hyrulean knight, both sides armed with shorter weapons such as maces, trying to trip one another, sometimes bashing one another against the walls. One Darknut tripped a Hyrulean knight and was about to swing a mace into the fallen knight's helm, but Black Panther suddenly ran across the two, swinging her mighty spiked mace across the Darknut's helm, dazing him, then swinging the mace upwards from below, striking the Darknut in the crotch and that was enough to take him out of action!

"Come on!" Black Panther beckoned to her sisters and the soldiers, all of them overhearing the echoes of fighting in the other hallways, but they charged forth as a group, helping out the Hyrulean knights.

Hylian soldiers jumped upon the backs of the preoccupied Darknuts, putting them in headlocks and bringing them down together, kneeling atop them while holding their arms down, and then ramming swords into the gaps or openings of their armour, or into the eye slits of their great helms.

The twins, having long poleaxes, aimed for the helmets, flukes poking into them, but the also swung into anything they could. Black Panther charged forth, going into a kneeling position to dodge a Darknut's mace, and at the same time, she swung her holy water sprinkler into the Darknut's greave, hitting his shin with enough force to hurt him, and then she swung her mace upwards from below, hitting the Darknut under the front of the visor, breaking it off and causing him to rear back. He bashed his shield into Black Panther then kicked her in the front, but then a Hyrulean knight, gripping his spear in both hands so that his hands were spread apart, jumped forwards and bashed the middle of the shaft into the Darknut's helm from the side, the impact not deadly, but knocking him over.

Lionheart also engaged a Darknut, gripping her sword so that one hand was at the handle and other hand gripping the blade near the tip. When the Darknut swung his ikakalaka at her, she skipped backwards, hearing the blade whiz passed her, then skipped forth, driving her sword as if it were a bayonet into the right armpit of the Darknut, for when he swung his ikakalaka, he turned with it, exposing himself. Lionheart pushed her ancestor's blade into the armpit until the crossguard struck the armour, and the Darknut leaned over from the injury, and Lionheart slid her sword out him as he fell.

Most combatants in this hallway were far from finished, the Darknuts and Hyrulean knights exchanging great and mighty blows that would have felled most. To make things worse, twenty more Darknuts entered the hallway from the double doors up ahead and charged, brandishing their shields and swords.

"There are too many of them, Miladies, we will engage the Darknuts to create an opening for you, then you must go no without us." a Hyrulean knight said, Lionheart looking at him, then several Hyrulean knights charged back, diving into the Darknuts, and fought like savage bears, swinging their spears until the shafts broke, then withdrawing a mace, longsword, war hammer or battleaxe and swinging them into shields and armour until the weapons nearly broke.

Such reckless, overpowered fighting was not an effective way to defeat anyone, but the sudden wrath opened the Darknuts enough for the soldiers and princesses to move through. The soldiers, eager to defend their princesses, hurled themselves upon the Darknuts, and fought them with wild abandon. Black Panther, Lionheart and the twins joined in the fighting, swinging their weapons at the Darknuts as they moved on, but they knew they could not fight, and had to withdraw into the keep, and so ran and swerved through the Darknuts.

The four princesses ran passed the double doors, and now were in the sections that had intertwining hallways and rooms. Dozens of Bulblins were already ransacking the place until they noticed the princesses, and so they dropped whatever they were looting—from rupees to jewellery, fine clothes to paintings—and charged the ladies.

"I swear, if they did as much as put a foot into my bedroom..." Black Panther snarled, and at that, the idea of their rooms being desecrated, the very thought of their wardrobes being ripped asunder, the four ladies went berserk and pretty soon Bulblins were being hurled into walls. After a few seconds, the fight was already over, and the plated princesses continued as if nothing had happened.

After ascending a stairwell that led to the outside of the keep, the four princesses returned outside. Nearby them, not much was going on, as Darknuts could probably not fit in the stairwells, but they could clearly see that the outer walls were full of Bulblin archers, shooting arrows up at the keep or towers even though the heavy winds blew them down, whilst Hylian longbowmen, crossbowmen, and arquebusiers shot back. Darknuts, Bulblins, and Hyrulean knights were present on the walls of the keep here and there, which would explain why the Hyrulean knights had arrived late to the main hall: they were busy fighting outside the keep.

Darknuts and Hyrulean knights fought one another with lots of shoving, as they kept trying to push one another off the walls. Littered along the walls were wounded or dying Bulblins, Hylian soldiers, Hyrulean knights and Darknuts, but the vast horde of Darknuts still visibly patrolled around the castle grounds. Riderless horses also walked around, eating grass, including a large black stallion with red eyes.

The various stone stairways leading up to the walls had the most action, and soon, Bulblin archers started shooting arrows at the four princesses, most arrows missing, but those that hit him, bounced off their armour.

"Well this doesn't." one twin chirped.

"Look good." the other twin finished, an arrow glancing off her helm. The echoes of battle, lightning, thunder, rainfall, and high winds made everything feel quite hopeless. Lionheart looked back at the keep, the echoes of fighting inside becoming fainter.

"All those knights and soldiers... they offered themselves as a distraction, just to let us escape." Lionheart spoke, and she clenched her fists, knuckles cracking, then she looked up at the keep, "If you are going to fall, then fall already! But I'm taking you with me!"

Lionheart then sprinted along the walls, going up the stairway, her sisters following, all of them running and sometimes skipping over the fallen or the wounded, even bypassing the occasional standing Darknut too injured to chase after them. Little fighting occurred; some small groups of Bulblins here and there attacked the princesses, but the ladies fought them off without any problems.

Entering the top level of the keep, double doors and other doors left wide open, the four princesses ran up the same chambers they had previously descended from. Just like outside on the walls, the chambers and stairways had batches of exhausted, wounded or dying soldiers, knights, Bulblins and Darknuts, all unable to fight on, having exhausted themselves until they could no longer biologically continue. Some Darknuts and Hyrulean knights knelt or sat against the walls, breathing and bleeding heavily. The princesses ran through the fallen and wounded, some Bulblins cowering from them, raising their arms out of fear, but nothing happened.

Up and up the princesses went, and the further up they went, the quieter the echoes of battle became, but the thunderstorm became louder. Metallic footfall echoing, the princesses reached the end of the chambers and passages, feeling strain for running and fighting ever since they finished sparring, up ahead seeing the huge sliding door that led outside once again, which was littered by a pile of fallen Darknuts, soldiers and knights.

The princesses had to walk across the pile of fallen combatants, much to their disgust and shock, but there was nothing they could do. Outside, the crossbowmen, longbowmen and arquebusiers lied here and there where they used to be, dead or dying, lying with fallen Darknuts and Hyrulean knights, some Darknuts and humans hunched over the battlements, with dozens of Kargaroks hovering around pecking at them to see if they were really dead.

By the looks of it, the fighting up here was almost over, as there were just a few small groups of Darknuts fighting with Hyrulean knights. The large combatants near the battlements had resorted to pushing foes off the keep, as a few Darknuts and Hyrulean knights were lying on the arches and sloped architecture around the structure, and a few others were just pushed over the crenellation and fell to their deaths far down below. Exhausted, the Darknuts and Hyrulean knights gradually sunk under the weight of their armour, and could do no more.

"Didn't we hear them fighting while going up the stairs?" Lionheart asked, wondering how it all ended so quickly.

Black Panther, eager for revenge, charged an exhausted Darknut standing nearby with his back against the wall of the stairway, who could not even raise his arms, and she smote him in the helm, striking him several times as hard as she could, until he fell over. She then kicked his visor open and swung her spiked mace down into his face repeatedly, blood spattering outwards with each hit. The twins stood motionless, not expecting to see such brutality from their own family.

Lionheart grabbed Black Panther's arm and pulled on it, turning to face the large fleet of stairs leading up to the top of the keep, where the tallest structure stood. Some heavy footfall and grunts echoed from within there, blades striking blades, but it sounded like the fighting was almost done.

"Up there, before we are late again." Lionheart said, and the four princesses ran up either stairway, passing the fallen. Moving upwards while in armour was very tiring and straining, the ladies feeling high winds and rain pummelling their backsides, and for some reason, thunder and lightning intensified as they neared the top of the keep.

Reaching the structure at the very top, which was essentially a smaller keep at the top of the main keep, the princesses ran up the second shorter stairway, stepping amidst the fallen, and entered the structure. Inside was quite dark but huge, with a long blue carpet running down the chamber, the sides having columns, and the end leading to what appeared to be a throne room area.

The fiercest fighting took place up here, as the floor was nearly covered with soldiers, Hyrulean knights and Darknuts, most of whom were downright dead, with broken weapons and broken parts of armour strewn with the fallen.

At the middle of the chamber, stood just one soldier, before him a Darknut, the Darknut's armour destroyed so much that almost all his external plate armour was gone. The Darknut swung his large arming sword downwards, too tired to swing it quickly. The soldier held a Bowie knife so that the blade was downward along his forearm, and he moved his arm sideways so that his knife deflecting the incoming sword, and the Darknut's sword slammed into the floor.

The soldier then flipped his knife so that he held it with the blade upwards, and rammed his knife deep into the Darknut's sternum, piercing through his mail and clothes. Upon feeling a knife skewer his heart, the Darknut dropped his sword and stood weakly, then fell onto one knee, the soldier still holding his knife and pushing it until all the blade was inside its target. The soldier then bent his leg, placed his foot against the Darknut's shoulder, and pushed him down with his foot while pulling out his knife. Shoulders drooping, the soldier panted heavily, and turning to the side, watched the four princesses run to him, moving feet sometimes kicking bits of armour or discarded weapons out of their way.

"Darrell?" Lionheart asked as blood trickled off the soldier's Bowie knife. The soldier nodded, but was too tired to speak, and could just gesture towards the end of the chamber.

At the end was a giant statue depicting a goddess with the emblem of Hyrule holding a Triforce. Flanking the statue were two pairs of smaller throne-like statues but still much larger than the throne, the ones farthest away smaller than the ones next to the statue. Below it was a large gilded throne with red padding, the throne seemed to be integrated into the bottom of the statue.

Lightning flashed in the sky behind everyone, briefly illuminating the place, revealing pitch-black bloodied armour of the one seated in the throne, sitting leaning forwards, legs spaced apart, left elbow on his left knee, and resting his chin against his left hand. His helm was on the floor nearby, and his impressive sword across his lap, blood dripping off the edge.

"Welcome to my castle. Hm hm hm mm hmm..."


	19. Chapter 19 - Storm

**Chapter 19**

 **Storm**

"So you're the amber-eyed redhead from our legends." one of the twins remarked.

"Not as scary as our crazy little redhead sister, though." the other twin finished, though Ganondorf made no reaction, just sitting in the dark, keeping a pleased, but dark, look on his chiselled face. He was quite the gargoyle of a man, having dark skin, amber eyes, a broad chin, full red beard, pronounced nose, and a naturally stern but intellectual face.

"Well, whatever. About time we crossed paths, Ganondorf. My blade has been dying to meet you." Lionheart somewhat threatened, lifting her sword briefly. At that, Ganondorf rather slowly stood up from the throne.

"Last time that sword was in the hands of the Princess of Hyrule, she dropped it, without fighting, I believe. At least you are braver than your coward ancestor, Zelda." Ganondorf replied, Lionheart pausing for a moment then gripping her sword tightly, all sisters feeling the sting of insult.

Ganondorf assumed Lionheart to be Zelda, but did not seem to realize that the other girls were, in fact, sisters.

"I'm not sure if your nation has amused me or not, princess. They are so subordinate, ruled by a theocratic monarchy submissive to fairy-tales, only to obey like the chained mutts that they are. How very pathetic." Ganondorf replied, taking a few steps to the side and keeping his head low, blood dripping down his sword, his footfall echoing and armour clicking as he moved, and thunder grumbled overhead. He stopped, facing sideways, but turned his head to look at the princesses.

"What are you looking at?" Darrell asked the King of Evil with some heat, Darrell then sliding his Bowie knife over his armoured throat then pointing the knife forwards, threatening the king.

"I was not surprised that your people changed so much since I last was here. As petty as they were, their hatred of me was insatiable, and with such fervour, that you could say they became like me. That emotion, I killed with silence." Ganondorf continued, then walked back to the front of his throne, letting his sword hang diagonally from his hand.

The princesses did not really know what to do. Should they just charge their legendary foe? The sisters looked at each other, but did nothing.

"As petty as the past generations of Hylians were, their hatred of me filled their vitals nearly unto bursting. They took their undying emotion to their graves over these past few hundreds of years, time and time again, and it all bled into the realm of the underworld, where I resided. Their hatred was the sustenance for my soul. I peered deep into the nature of souls, the very essence of life and consciousness, and became stronger than ever before." the evil king said.

"And from that, you came back into the world." Lionheart remarked. Ganondorf nodded.

"Zelda!" a little girl cried from the blackness behind a pillar, the princesses looking to their right, gentle footfall clicking against the floor, and soon, Vampire appeared, sniffling with tears rolling down her face, and she ran towards Lionheart as if a child to her mother, Lionheart dropped her blade, hearing it clinking against the floor, and then knelt, feeling Vampire jump into her front and hug her, the child sobbing into her older sister's mail armour. Vampire did not have her falchion anymore, probably having lost it sometime ago.

From the pillars to the right, muffling, footfall, and struggling sounded.

"Let them go." Ganondorf ordered firmly without looking, voice echoing, and lightning cracked above the castle, and after a few seconds, Blackeyes, Goldilocks, and Pear appeared, jogging through the darkness to regroup with their sisters at the centre of the chamber, Darrell taking a few quick steps forward to make sure the princesses were unharmed, and they seemed to be alright.

Goldilocks and Blackeyes ran behind their older, armoured sisters, the twins and Black Panther putting a hand over their little sisters. The children breathed audibly, obviously afraid, but they sighed with relief after a few seconds, glad to be with their family. Pear was not wearing any armour, head low, feeling ashamed of herself.

"I'm sorry, girls, I was never a fighter." Pear said sadly, but Black Panther pat her on the shoulder, "And I was just eating strawberry cake because I was scared, now I'm sick." Pear admitted, eyes low, and sounded pathetic. Vampire continued crying gently.

"We lost, sis, we lost." Vampire sobbed, Lionheart rubbing the little girl's back, "Matthias got really hurt, too." she whimpered, rubbing her face with the back of her sleeve.

"Oh Vampire, stop being such a baby." Blackeyes complained, Vampire looking at her and giving her an angry, teary look, teeth clenched.

"I'm not!" Vampire assured, still grasping Lionheart's armour, and then sniffled.

"Well, at least I am still a Golden Goddess." Goldilocks said to herself, pushing a hand through her long hair, lifting her chin a bit, and shaking her head a little, as if taking a shower.

Everyone heard heavy shuffling sounding from the shadows behind the pillars, followed by metallic footfall. Thunder roared, and lightning flashed powerfully behind the entrance, shaking the castle as well as illuminating the interior of the chamber, the brief flashing revealing Darknuts in black armour, three emerging from behind every pillar. Upon realizing that twenty-four Darknuts were present, Darrell stepped forth, leaning forwards and ready to defend the princesses, but the odds were already bad enough as it was.

"This time, your people had martial skill; undoubtedly, this is true. Nevertheless, as always... lacked real power. Do you even know what a castle is for? If your enemy reaches your castle, its purpose is already lost. I imprisoned your people within their own walls." Ganondorf spoke, placing the tip of his sword on the floor, and then putting both hands over one another atop the hilt, the rest of the blood on the sword leaking down it, leaving behind a shiny blade.

"The only one truly fit to rule the world, is a king chosen by a Goddess to represent the embodiment of Power. Would you not agree?" the evil king somewhat mocked, and then he raised his right hand, backhand facing forwards, and his Triforce beamed powerfully, top triangle the brightest.

"I didn't even pick you." Goldilocks grumbled, crossing her arms, furrowing her eyebrows, and making an angry face, assuming Ganondorf was talking about her, but he did not hear her. She and her sisters and Darrell overheard the Darknuts slowly take a few steps forwards, immense swords and shields ready. Once they stopped, Ganondorf stared at Lionheart.

"I released your friends, you can trust me, for now. You simply have no chance. Surrender now, or we will kill you all." Ganondorf said bluntly. The princesses and Darrell knew the odds were heavily stacked against them, the twenty-four Darknuts ready to fight.

"It isn't over yet!" a child's voice shouted from before the entrance, his little voice echoing in the chamber, and then Matthias appeared, unsheathing his sword.

As Matthias ran into the chamber, twenty Hyrulean knights appeared, running from the stairway and trudging into the chamber, followed by five Hylian swordsmen with kite shields and four Hylian spearmen, two with scuti and two gripping their spears two-handed (one being short and fat), and all of them regrouped with the princesses. The knights and soldiers, like the Darknuts, looked beat-up, their armour dented here and there, but they were ready to fight nonetheless, gripping spears, longswords, maces, war hammers or battleaxes, but one knight held an arming sword in one hand and dagger in the other.

"Matthias!" Vampire called, letting go of Lionheart and running to him, hugging him around his armour, the lad partially sinking his head into his armour like a turtle, blushing, but Vampire would not let go.

"Vampire, you're embarrassing me..." Matthias whined, overhearing a few chuckles from the knights. Lionheart picked her her sword.

"I said knights would escort you, albeit we are a little late." one of the Hyrulean knights said, the same one who spoke to Lionheart earlier, he still having his spear. The Hyrulean knights gradually spread apart, looking to the sides as the Darknuts shuffled in their armour. Ganondorf slowly chuckled without opening his mouth, keeping his face vindictive yet pleased. Thunder growled, lightning cracked, and the wind intensified.

"Very well. If it is only violence you will understand, then so be it. Tonight, I will finish what I started so long ago..." Ganondorf said, and then he leaned forwards, "Tonight, this will be the end to it all!" he stated, and then he momentarily felt sharp pain in his face. The left side of his face stung.

"Ow? What the hell..." the evil king asked quietly, looking down to his left, wondering what just happened, seeing the silhouette of someone little beside him. He heard the princesses and their knights gasp lightly.

"What?" Crazy demanded with a big shrug, "I am the queen. And you are my slave. Because you're big, dumb, ugly, and have dark skin, just like a slave." she continued, expecting submission, but Ganondorf did nothing, which irritated Crazy. "Don't make me jump up and whip you in the face again, you slave! Now bend over and put this big helmet on my head, it looks cool, and I wanna wear it, so put it on my head, you slave." Crazy continued. Ganondorf just stood there looking at her, so Crazy raised her forearm, nine-tailed whip flicking upward and then the tails hanging down around her arm.

"Oh, wow, good job, what a way to ruin a serious moment..." Ganondorf mumbled. Crazy bit her lower lip and inhaled through her teeth.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that! You slave! Now put that helmet on my head, this instant! Immediately!" Crazy demanded, pointing at Ganondorf's helm with her free hand, but she lost patience and whipped the evil king, but forgot to jump, and the nine tails just weakly clinked against his armour. So she jumped, intending to whip the king in the face, but he grabbed her whip midair with his thumb and first finger, plucking it out her grasp, and Crazy landed on her feet without her whip. She looked down upon herself, then her angry face shot upwards.

"Hey! Give that back, you slave!" Crazy barked, but Ganondorf just tossed the whip away, Crazy turning while watching it go away, and after it landed, she spun around to face Ganondorf again. "Just you wait." she threatened, waving a little fist at him, face scrunched-up and teeth grinding, then she spun around to see where the whip went.

"All you need is a good spanking." Ganondorf said.

"At least that's one thing we can agree on." Lionheart whispered to herself.

Before she could walk away, Ganondorf gave Crazy a little kick on the butt, just hard enough to make her lose balance and fall over. Crazy got up and twirled around angrily, leaning forwards, shoulders raised, arms downright in front of her, fists and teeth clenched, head tilted back, teeth clenched, eyebrows furrowed, right eye twitching, fiercely inhaling in and out through her teeth, breathing echoing, and she started shaking from suppressed rage. She looked like she was about to scream her lungs out, face red, veins at her temples throbbing, eyes bloodshot, the little princess ready to pop.

"GNNNMM-M-M-M-MMMRRRNNNNFFFH..." Crazy exclaimed as she shook like a leaf on fire, wondering what to say, and then Ganondorf backhanded the air and cast a surge of electricity to electrocute Crazy, causing her to squeak and fall over, twitching on the floor. Ganondorf huffed, then turned to the side so that he could look up at the statue behind him, placing both hands on his hilt, one hand over the other, and then gradually looked back at the princesses.

"Tonight, I will finish what I started so long ago, tonight, this will be the end of you!" Ganondorf stated, and he flipped his sword upright. The Darknuts screamed their battle cries, striking their swords and shields together, and the Hyrulean knights and Hylian soldiers also shouted their battle cries, beating their gauntlets or handles of their weapons against their breastplates, and the armoured princesses joined in the war cry, with lightning, thunder and heavy winds joining in the cacophony, all the noises resonating in the chamber. The Darknuts charged few by few, swords raised and shields presented.

"Finally! I thought I'd die of boredom listening to all this talking!" one of the Hyrulean knights shouted, throwing his spear at a Darknut, spear embedding in the Darknut's shield, and then the knight unsheathed a longsword and charged by himself.

"Just show me a Darknut's throat!" a knight with a battleaxe bellowed, and ran towards his enemies.

"We'll fight the Darknuts, you face the king!" the Hyrulean knight who spoke to Lionheart previously shouted, and then he and the other Hyrulean knights split into two groups and charged back at the Darknuts, whilst the armoured princesses and the Hylian soldiers charged forth, but Matthias, Vampire, Goldilocks, and Pear stayed behind, hoping for the best. Matthias pointed his sword forwards, ready to protect the princesses who would not fight.

Both sides clashed, heavy armour shuffling and clicking violently, Darknuts making mighty swings to smash into the incoming weapons of the Hyrulean knights. The Darknut who had a spear embedded in his shield had to drop the shield, as the spear made it too heavy to hold, so he unsheathed his arming sword with his left hand and engaged his opponent, swinging both swords at him, and then the two combatants smashed into one another.

Since the Hyrulean knights did not fight with shields, they used their left hand to grab their foe's shield, pushing it down or into the Darknut, so that they could then attack the Darknut's helm, but at the same time, most swung their swords to counterattack, impact causing sparks to fly, visible due to the dimness of the chamber. The knights with spears would stab them into the shield, and then bash the shaft sideways into it and blocking the incoming sword with the butt of their spear.

After the initial attacks, the next moves of both sides were push-kicking, shoving, punching, grappling, headbutting, and knee striking, now twenty Hyrulean knights and Darknuts preoccupied with their own duelling. A few pairs fell, resorting to wrestling on the floor, dropping their weapons and withdrawing daggers, wrestling while pushing daggers into gaps or openings of armour, exchanging stabs into vulnerable spots.

Since there were four more Darknuts than Hyrulean knights, those four Darknuts, two from each side up ahead, ran towards the middle of the chamber as Ganondorf walked forwards casually and coolly. Without thinking, the twins, Lionheart, Black Panther, Darrell, and the nine other Hylian soldiers ran forth, the four Darknuts up ahead raising their swords and swinging them, striking the shields of the spearmen and swordsmen, and then the spearmen, having the longest weapons, lunged them at the Darknuts. This was followed by more powerful swinging by the Darknuts, the other soldiers jumping into the Darknuts while receiving huge blows, tackling into their shields and attacking with their spears or swords as much as they could.

Darrell jumped upon a Darknut's shield after he threw another off it, and lunged his Bowie knife into the Darknut's visor, but the Darknut pulled his head back and swung his shield, tossing Darrell aside. Black Panther took his place, jumping up and driving her morning star directly into the Darknut's helm, hitting him hard enough to daze him.

The twins joined the fight, swinging their poleaxes overhead the Hylian swordsmen to smash shields down, to then jab the spearheads of their poleaxes into the Darknuts' helms, one spearman also lunging his spear, but all spearheads missed the openings. The four Darknuts then started kicking, shield-bashing, and swinging their swords overhead, crashing into shields and armour, knocking down a few soldiers, but then the princesses fought impressively with a boost of power, their weapons striking helms and hurting the Darknuts.

"Yeah! That's how you do it!" Vampire cheered.

"Keep fighting!" Matthias cheered as well.

"Oh Goddess, they better stay safe..." Pear said to herself.

"Well, of course they'll be safe." Goldilocks assured.

"Don't say that, you'll just give them bad luck." Blackeyes grumbled.

"What? No way!" Goldilocks defended, Blackeyes crossing her arms and shaking her head, Goldilocks doing likewise.

The Hylian soldiers were clever, and those at the flanks circled around the Darknuts to attack them at the sides, the short fat spearman running behind one Darknut and lunging his spear between the thighs of a Darknut, then pushing the spear so that it became diagonal between the Darknut's legs, so that when the Darknut stepped backwards, the shaft locked between his legs, and he tripped backwards, and fall flat on his back. Immediate, a swordsman jumped upon the fallen Darknut, intending to stab his sword into the eye slit of the Darknut's great helm, but another Darknut push-kicked the swordsman off.

Lionheart squeezed into her group, then ducked as a Darknut swung his sword sideways, she ducked, hearing the blade strike the poleaxe of one of her sisters and then continue to hit the twin's helmet, then Lionheart dove forth, gripping her sword by the blade and handle, closing the distance, and ramming her ancestral longsword into the gap at the left armpit of the Darknut, stabbing through the mail and gambeson beneath, hurting him.

The Darknut smashed the bottom of his hilt into Lionheart's lion-helm, staggering her, then she gripped her longsword in both hands by the blade, raising it overhead sideways, the flex ob the blade bending, and then she swung the sword downwards from overhead, the flex of the blade straightening and then bending the other direction, adding a whipping affect to the blade, and side of the flanged pommel striking his helm with a little more power, which dazed him for a second.

"Go on! Give him another!" Matthias yelled, throwing a balled fist into the air.

The three standing Darknuts received swords, spears and poleaxes repeatedly into their shields, and soon spread apart, the soldiers and princesses swarming them and chopping them in the greaves as well, the spearmen who wielded a scutum punching the bottom rim into the Darknuts as well, doing anything and everything they could to keep on attacking. Lionheart writhed through the group, seeing Ganondorf within ten feet from her, and wanted to face him.

"HYYAHH!" Ganondorf shouted, suddenly propelling himself through the air, electricity zapping around his left hand, surprising Lionheart, so she swung her sword, but it just hit and he punched into Lionheart's helm, impact causing electricity to blast outwards, Lionheart screaming as she fell to her back, armour zapping.

Darrell charged from the side, tackling into Ganondorf's side, catching the King of Evil off-guard, but was unable to take the king down, and tried to stab Ganondorf in the neck, and then a Hylian swordsman raised his shield and charged, eager to help Darrell fight Ganondorf. The king kicked upwards powerfully and quickly, kicking away the charging swordsman's shield and then swung his own sword downwards in one hand, but the Hylian raised his sword sideways and blocked Ganondorf's attack, but the impact was heavy enough to knock the sword down and hit the soldier on the helmet anyways, but with less force. Ganondorf then dropped his sword, grabbed Darrell with both arms, so that arm went around his shoulders and the other arm curled underneath his thigh, and holding Darrell like that, Ganondorf lifted him up and slammed him head-first into the floor.

"Ouch, that looked painful..." Pear remarked while cringing, then looking away and seeing the Hyrulean knight with sword and dagger in either hand fighting a Darknut, parrying the Darknut's mace with a sword and then thrusting his dagger forwards straight into the eye slit of the Darknut's great helm, causing the Darknut to skip back and groan in pain. Pear closed her right eye and winced, "That had to hurt, too. Glad I'm not fighting."

Black Panther swung her morning star through the air, the heavy spiked ball parrying a Darknut's sword going for her, and then the Darknut bashed his shield against Black Panther, staggering her, but then one of the twins and a spearman swung their polearms downwards overhead, hitting the Darknut in the head at the same time, stunning him. Noticing Ganondorf pick up his sword, and Lionheart on the floor zapping and twitching so much she could not pick herself up for now, Black Panther swerved around the group and charged Ganondorf, morning star raised.

Ganondorf gripped his sword in both hands and pointed it forwards low, and as Black Panther's morning star came arching to him, the king swung his sword backwards from below, hitting the morning star shaft from below and redirecting its swing, and since his sword was now up, he brought it down upon Black Panther's helm, the strike staggering her. Ganondorf immediately push-kicked Black Panther, staggering her back further until she was losing balance, then throwing ball lightning at her, of which plate armour was of little protection. Black Panther felt her skeleton be shocked and shake, and she fell over with a brief cry. Matthias, Vampire, Blackeyes, Goldilocks and Pear all cringed at the same time, the electricity illuminating the chamber briefly with each flash.

The Darknut who was tripped was still on his back, a spearman wielding his spear two-handed pushing it against the Darknut's neck to keep him down, spearhead gradually stabbing deeper into the neck whilst the Darknut let go of his sword and grabbed the shaft to prevent it piercing his spinal cord, so Ganondorf threw another ball lightning, hitting the spearman, which was more than enough to electrify him off his feet, though some zaps flowed into the Darknut anyways.

One twin immediately swung her poleaxe downwards, eagerly trying to divide Ganondorf's skull with the axe blade, but he backhanded the poleaxe with the cuff of his left gauntlet, and at the same time swung his sword down and struck the twin into the armet, and then stepped forth, smashing the bottom of the hilt into the twin's visor, staggering her. He then turned to the side, seeing the Hylian soldiers and the other twin fighting the Darknuts, and then spun around raising his sword, blocking Lionheart's swing, for she had just recovered.

Lionheart pushed her sword forwards, both blades grinding against one another, and then Ganondorf simply grabbed Lionheart's blade with his left hand, and punched his crossguard into Lionheart's helm, the impact throwing her head back. The king then gripped his sword with both hands by the blade and swung the hilt into Lionheart's helm with all his might, impact causing his sword to flex acutely, and Lionheart twirled around and fell over.

Meanwhile, one of the twins evaded a Darknut's mace, then quickly dove forth, swinging the fluke of her poleaxe into his helm, piercing the helm and getting stuck in it. The fluke penetrated deep enough to poke into the Darknut's skull, and so stunned him. Not bothering to withdraw the poleaxe, she quickly unsheathed a dagger and drove it into the Darknut's right armpit, and then another Darknut, upon bashing down several soldiers with his shield, swung his ikakalaka across the twin's helmet from behind, the hit causing her legs to go limp and she fell over from the impact.

Wounded, the Darknut who had a poleaxe embedded in his helm dropped his mace and grabbed the poleaxe, trying to wrench it out his head, and that was when the short fat spearman, taking aim, drove his spear into the Darknut's visor, forcing it open, then a swordsman rushed forth, blocking another Darknut's sword with his shield, and rammed his sword into the wounded Darknut's mouth, piercing the spinal cord behind the back of the mouth and felling the big warrior.

Ganondorf approached the group, one spearman staring at him, so the king whistled and beckoned the spearman, the soldier thrusting his spear at the king, who backhanded the spear aside with his vambrace, and then conjured a mass of lightning in his left hand and grabbed the soldier by the helmet, electricity surging throughout the soldier's body, he falling onto both knees and dropping his spear, and after a second, Ganondorf pushed the soldier over.

By this time, some of the duelling heavyweights were incapacitated or killed, allowing a few of them to join the fighting at the centre of the chamber. Two Hyrulean knights and two Darknuts reached the centre of the chamber, joining the fight there. Black Panther recovered, charging one of the approaching Darknuts, swinging her morning star in both hands against its shield, feeling it bounce off, and the she swung it again to the side, smashing the incoming sword down, allowing the previous twin (who recovered by this time) to drive the fluke of her poleaxe into the Darknut's helm, but failed to penetrate it. The Darknut spun around, flailing his sword and shield, and then a Hyrulean knight tackled the Darknut in the back and fell over him.

The other Hyrulean knight, who wielded a mace in both hands, charged the second arriving Darknut, parrying the Darknut's ikakalaka, then tackling his shoulder into the shield, driving the shield back and pushing it against the Darknut's breastplate, allowing the Hyrulean knight to then swing his mace two-handed up and over the shield and into the helm, dazing the Darknut, allowing the knight to hit the Darknut again with such force the knight fell over, the strike knocking the Darknut over, the Darknut's helm caved-in.

Black Panther, Lionheart and the twins got back up and regrouped, the ten soldiers worn-out, injured, and tired, and were beaten down by the Darknuts as a result, and then attacked the two Hyrulean knights from all directions, ignoring the princesses. The four armoured ladies charged at the same time, hurling themselves onto the Darknuts who turned to face them, Lionheart and one twin slashing their longswords, the other twin swinging her poleaxe, and Black Panther waving her morning star, the weapons striking just shields, so they skipped backwards, dodging the Darknuts' swords, and then dove forth again, driving their weapons into the Darknuts' helms.

The Darknuts rammed their shields into the four princesses, their armoured feet sliding backwards along the floor. Lionheart used her foe's great weight against him, pulling herself back and spinning around the shield, and quickly lunged her longsword into the right armpit, stabbing through mail and gambeson and hurting the wearer, hearing him grunt aloud. The three other sisters engaged their mighty enemies. This gave the two Hyrulean knights some space to fight, but they were still overwhelmed, and then the princesses were attacked by multiple Darknuts at the same time.

To help the princesses, three Hyrulean knights broke from their duelling and ran across the chamber, pursued by the Darknuts they were just fighting, tackling into the group of Darknuts, breaking through the guard of their shields and avalanching over them. The twins joined the fray, jumping upon a fallen Darknut each and swinging their weapons frantically at the several other Darknuts.

The commotion allowed Lionheart and Black Panther to run around the fallen combatants at either side, Lionheart running passed the three Darknuts who joined the fight, Ganondorf standing nearby, keeping a smug and sardonic look as he often did. He knew that all this fighting was just prolonging the inevitable.

"Keep that smile on your face while it's still attached to your bloody head!" Black Panther shouted, gripping her morning star in both hands, and she drove it towards Ganondorf's head. At the same time, Lionheart charged the king as well, intending to tackle him.

Ganondorf smirked, and then threw a mass of electricity at Black Panther, who was ready this time and skipped to the side to dodge it but this movement broke the momentum of her attack, the magical projectile crashing against the floor and exploding, flashes brightening up the chamber. The king then quickly cast another magical projectile at Lionheart, her reflexes forcing her to swing at the ball lightning, and to her surprise, the blade caused the magic to bounce right back at Ganondorf! The magic hit him, much to his surprise as well, he being electrocuted, and then Black Panther swung her morning star into the King of Evil's head. The next big surprise happened: the spikes around the ball poked into Ganondorf's skull, but did not penetrate into his brain, though the hit did cause the king to stagger backwards, falling onto one knee. Black Panther pulled her morning star back, seeing that several spikes were now bent.

"Well, that's quite a hard head..." Black Panther remarked, amazed, some blood trickling down the king's face and patting onto his breastplate.

Taking advantage of what just happened, Lionheart lunged her longsword forth at the vulnerable king, who threw another mass of electricity at her. Lionheart felt the electricity surge trough her body, but she pushed through the pain, the discomfort, and the shaking, driving the tip of her sword into Ganondorf's forehead, impact pushing his head back, leaving a hole in his forehead, but the blade did not skewer through his skull. As the wound dripped blood, Ganondorf grabbed the sword at his head and pulled it out, feeling Lionheart trying to retrieve her blade and seeing Black Panther ready to attack him again, but a Darknut threw his ikakalaka at the back of her legs which caused her to lose balance and fall on one leg, and then another Darknut ran up to her and hit her across the back of the helm with his ikakalaka, and took her out. The twins and the two Hyrulean knights succumbed to mass of numbers, and were beaten down by the Darknuts' swords, maces and shields.

"You almost made history this time, Princess Zelda," Ganondorf complimented, leaning closer to her helm, "but you do not bear true power. You never have, and you never will." he assured, the back of his right hand powerfully emanating the Triforce through his gauntlet, and then let go of Lionheart's sword and thrust his own sword into her chest, piercing the mail. Lionheart did not feel pain, much to her surprise, but felt blood leak out her mouth and nose, but she did not quit, weakly unsheathing her dagger and poking it the evil king's armour, not having the strength to do anything else.

Ganondorf gripped his sword in both hands, and lifted it up until his arms were outstretched upright, and so raising Lionheart up with it, she feeling herself sinking down the blade, and were it not for her mail armour, the blade would have surely poked out her back. The King of Evil unleashed his electricity through his sword, electrocuting Lionheart, causing her to shake and lose control of her limbs, dropping sword and dagger, and after a few seconds, Ganondorf swung his sword downwards, throwing Lionheart off it, and her back crashed against the floor, electricity flickering out her body.

Pear and her younger sisters covered their mouths, Matthias' arms dropping hopelessly. Lionheart gurgled, trying to sit up, but was unable. Pear, Vampire, Goldilocks and Blackeyes ran over to their injured sister, Matthias following, overhearing the Hylian soldiers groaning under their helms, too wounded to move. Pear knelt beside Lionheart, putting an arm under Lionheart's neck to lift her so that she would not choke on her own blood. Pear then wanted to take Lionheart's helm off, but she felt her younger sister grab her arm.

"Leave it." Lionheart said weakly, then she softly exhaled, and her arms became limp.

"Lionheart!" the Hyrulean knight who spoke to the lionhearted princess shouted, suddenly feeling a burst of strength and smashing his Darknut adversary into a pillar, causing cracks, and then he broke off and ran across the chamber, and threw his spear at Ganondorf with such strength his throw caused him to jump, the spear arching perfectly towards the evil king.

Ganondorf did not even look, and simply leaned sideways, the big spear whizzing passed his ear, scraping against the earring, and struck the floor, causing sparks, and skittered along until hitting the stairs leading to the throne. A few Darknuts from the centre of the chamber attacked the Hyrulean knight who threw the spear, and beat him down. Once they finished, the big knight exhaled and coughed.

"This isn't over yet, Ganondorf. I swear, you will eventually realize, that you are the own who is truly cursed." the beaten knight said, and then a Darknut with a mace plunged it into the knight's helm, the blunt force trauma knocking him out for sure.

Looking around, the remaining duels ended one by one, a few Darknuts running into the backs of duelling Hyrulean knights, hitting them in the back until they fell over, and soon, none of the knights were left standing. They were mounted and beaten by hilts, and then the Darknut would drop his sword or mace, unsheathe a dagger, and stab the knights in the gaps of their armour.

Matthias whimpered, wondering what to do now. Blackeyes, Goldilocks and Vampire just crossed their arms behind their backs and looked down at their injured older sister, their eyes shiny, and Pear started chewing on the sides of her fingernails. They heard Ganondorf approaching, footfall knocking and armour clinking, the Darknuts making sure the Hyrulean knights and Hylian soldiers stayed beaten down good.

Ganondorf now stood before the sisters, some of the Darknuts near him. The King of Evil stared with an expressionless face. Matthias jumped in front of the king, brandishing his child-sized sword, trying not to shiver from fear. Ganondorf did not even look at Matthias, and lightly hit him across the head with the flat of his sword, causing the boy to drop his sword and fall over, tears and blood trickling down his face. He sat up, touching his bleeding face, and kept his eyes low.

Pear looked up back at Ganondorf, hearing her teardrops falling and tapping on Lionheart's helm. The king placed the tip of his sword on the floor, and then both hands atop the hilt, right hand over his left hand, the glowing emblem of the Triforce beaming up. He was staring at Lionheart's right backhand, the Triforce glowing weakly, but the king also realized that Pear's right backhand also had a weak glow of the Triforce. Up-close, and in the dark, Ganondorf could clearly see that the sisters before him all had Triforces faintly shining out the back of their right hand.

"Hmm... I did not expect this. How did I not know this? I suppose multiple children means that they inherit the Triforce." Ganondorf said, thinking about the robed woman he met, recalling how she kept her hands away from him. He put everything together, and figured it out. "Ten sisters, then? Hm, I think they all would have to be together, for the Triforce of Wisdom to be one. There's just one sister beyond my reach, for now."

"You will never find Sheik." Pear assured angrily.

"Ahh, yes, Sheik... Zelda's disguise truly worked, but it did not last forever. As I found Sheik in the past, so I will again." Ganondorf said, and then he felt something big and heavy hit him in the back of the head, causing him to lean forwards from pain and surprise. He and several Darknuts turned around, Ganondorf seeing his helm rolling along the floor nearby, and ten feet away was Crazy, who had obliviously thrown Ganondorf's helm at him.

Crazy stood there, arms hanging down her sides, elbows slightly bent, she leaning forwards and keeping an angry face. Suddenly, she leaned backwards diagonally, pointing her left arm at Ganondorf, tilting her head, narrowing her eyes, and giving him an evil look.

"You should have put that on my head..." Crazy said slowly, breathing in and out slowly, and the next thing she knew, she was sitting in the middle of a dark, cold prison cell in the dungeons. She blinked twice, wondering how she ended up here. She overheard running water, as the dungeons were beside the underground waterworks.

"Crap." Crazy cursed lightly, shoulders and back drooping over.


	20. Chapter 20 - Almost there

**Chapter 20**

 **Almost there...**

Beyond the castle walls, in the forest, a wagon rolled along. Trotting along were Ingo, the Gorman Brothers, and Talon. Cremia rode the wagon, whilst her little sister, Romani, and Linkle and her brothers and Malon sat inside the wagon. As a reminder, the brothers consisted of ten brothers and an elder sister.

The oldest brother was a Link nicknamed Leo, a tall, chubby lad with a full beard, having just enough facial hair to cover the skin. This Link was so-called Leo due to his thick, dark blonde hair and facial hair, deep brown eyes, and large build, but he was rather lazy. During the fight against the bad men many chapters ago, Leo had thrown his hatchet, but now held a spear that was thrown into the wagon when the coustiliers attacks.

The next was a Link nicknamed Raven, tall, long-legged and slim, a brother with skin as black as night, due to being born with melanism, and having a hooked nose, straight black hair, dark eyes, and precision and cleverness in his actions. During the fight against the bandits and coustiliers, Raven had thrown his hatchet and then acquired a spear thrown into the wagon by the coustiliers.

The four teenagers consisted of Dreadlocks, a Link with dark brown hair set into dreadlocks, amber eyes, and was a rather unhappy fellow. The tanned brother was very quiet, sculpted with fine muscles, and had brown hair and brown eyes. Now, one teen-aged brother was Sunny, a lad born with xanthism, causing his skin and hair to be brightly yellow and made his eyes red, a tall happy lad who acquired a spear when it was thrown into the wagon by a coustilier. The last teen-aged brother was nicknamed Cougar, a peculiar lad with bright brown hair, perfectly circular pale yellow eyes, pinkish skin, and quite a feline shape to his face and skull, his ears short but broad and pointy, just like a cougar's, hence his name. Although Cougar was not noticeably muscular, he was quite strong in the arms.

The four children were Little Link, not the youngest but definitely the smallest child, a classic Link with blonde hair and blue eyes, but was just so small. Next was Redhead, a brother with red hair, brown eyes, pale skin, freckles, and quite the hot-headed kid. Next was a brother with curly black hair and big hazel eyes, the youngest brother, but the tallest child, a very adventurous, impetuous boy. Then, there was Snow, a Link born with albinism, having white skin, white hair, bright blue eyes, and was partly deaf and blind, but a heart-warming, caring little thing, albeit clumsy and careless. With them was Romani, Cremia's little sister, who had a little bow. Linkle had given one of her crossbows to Malon, and the wagon headed towards Hyrule Castle under the thunderstorm.

The weather remained awful, making thievery dark, wet and foggy, the horses and those riding outside the wagon soaking, rain drumming against the wagon's roof and trickling down its sides, Ingo and the Gorman Brothers (Norman and Herman) definitely not liking the wet weather, but Talon was put to sleep despite the thunder, lightning, high winds, and rainfall, his lazy horse trotting slowly behind the wagon but still a short distance behind.

"Bah! I hate this." Ingo grumbled.

"With all this rainfall, we can water down the Romani milk, that'll help fill up more bottles to sell." Norman remarked while looking at the rain.

"Yeah, and just tell the folks it's always full of vitamins and minerals, they won't know the difference." Herman added while scratching his back with his pitchfork, Talon snoring away behind the wagon.

Cremia stroked her forehead to momentarily wipe away some rain, seeing the castle towers and keep poking above the canopy up ahead. At that, she sighed with relief.

"Finally! The castle is up ahead, we'll be able to get some shelter soon!" Cremia said to her passengers, the children exclaiming some joy. Of course, they did not know what had actually happened, and the forested locale as well as the bad weather prevented them from seeing the aftermath of the siege. "The horses will definitely need to get dried up and put under a roof, I don't want them to catch a flu." Cremia said to herself.

"This had better be worth it." Linkle remarked under her breath, tightening her coat, feeling a little cold, overhearing her four child brothers and Romani chatting away and giggling, whereas her teen-aged brothers did little, patiently and calmly sitting quietly.

"Achoo!" Malon sneezed, covering her face with her left hand.

"Bless you!" Romani exclaimed, pointing her bow at Malon and plucking the bowstring.

"Hmm!? Who's there?" Ingo suddenly demanded, he and Herman gripped their pitchforks, and then several Bulblins appeared, exclaiming their whirring battle cries.

"We've got company, boys and girls!" Norman shouted, the passengers leaning in their seats and awaiting trouble to happen.

A few Bulblin archers shot arrows, but since their bows were wet, the bowstrings were weakened, the arrows shot with less power and accuracy. Ingo and Norman leaned sideways over their saddles to dodge incoming arrows, then Herman thrust his hips forth and kicked his heels against the sides of his horse, putting it into a run towards the Bulblins, and then he lunged his pitchfork at the Bulblins, the goblins scattering. Ingo and Herman started lunging and swinging their pitchforks at the pesky enemies, their horses constantly trotting around, kicking their hind legs, pawing their front hooves, and biting. Norman withdrew a hatchet from his belt and joined in the fighting, the three cranky ranchers cussing while fighting.

Out of nowhere, perhaps a hundred Bulblins scurried to the scene, brandishing clubs, and swarmed the three ranchers, so Ingo and the Gorman Brothers reared their horses, horses neighing and bicycling their front hooves upon the heads and raised clubs of the goblins, and then the horses jumped and ran forth, trampling the Bulblins. Herman and Ingo swung and stabbed their pitchforks at the many enemies, Norman swinging his hatchet to and fro. Being mounted gave the ranchers a height advantage whilst keeping them farther away from the Bulblins and their clubs, but their horses were clubbed in the legs, sides and neck, hurting them, but Hylian horses were large, powerful animals, and the pain only caused them to gallop with greater vigour, smashing through lines of Bulblins. Soon, the three ranchers ran passed the rest of the Bulblins, and ran farther down the road.

"Oh, looks like we're gonna have another chase right about now!" Cremia exclaimed, her passengers looking at her, then whipped the reins. The horses quickly went into a run, the wagon violently shaking for several seconds, wheels flicking water drops and bits of mud everywhere.

Linkle went to the front of the wagon, the Bulblins up ahead facing the wagon and charging it stupidly, clubs raised, and those with bows shot arrows. The wet bowstrings could only launch arrows weakly, and the arrows either fell short or bounced off the horses or wagon, Cremia ducking as much as she could, Linkle bashing the stock of her crossbow into an incoming arrow to knock it aside.

The arrows that hit the horses put them into a panic, and they wildly ran towards the horde of Bulblins. A few seconds later, everyone in the wagon heard and felt the horses and the wheels mowing through the horde of idiotic Bulblins, the wagon jerking and shifting in different directions as it drove over them. The four horses raised their heads, eyes big, clearly afraid, but panicking a horse only made it a greater threat, and they galloped as fast and as powerful they could. The impact slammed Bulblins into the ground, clubs and bows flinging out their grip, and their weapons, horns and bodies thudding against hooves and wheels.

"So much for that." Linkle remarked.

"How dumb are these Bulblins anyways?" Cremia asked.

Up ahead, a large tree arched over the road, and had a few archers atop its leaning trunk (Bulblins have this knack for appearing out of nowhere in the right areas). The archers in the tree shot arrows, and they all missed. Linkle aimed and shot, her crossbow kept dry in the wagon, the bolt whizzing through the air, piercing the occasional raindrop, and thudded against the forehead of the archer in the middle, head rearing and the Bulblins at either side turning their heads to see what happened, their shot friend falling over. Linkle and Malon stood behind Cremia, shooting crossbows at various Bulblins at the sides of the road or up in the trees.

As the wagon rode on, smashing anything in its way, ten Bulblins jumped off the trees and landed on the wagon. Three of them then jumped upon the shoulders of Linkle, Malon and Cremia, pressing them down, the ladies screeching aloud.

"Hey!" Little Link shouted; not that he needed to do so to inform everyone else of what just happened.

The passengers immediately sprang to action, but there was only so much space available at the front of the wagon. Leo and Raven, having spears, could just start stabbing, but were worried that they could accidentally stab into the women. The horses continued galloping, going through the horde of Bulblins and passing them.

The seven other Bulblins, one by one, jumped into the wagon from behind by grasping the ledge of the roof with one hand and then swinging into the wagon, and so the passengers faced them. Romani shot an arrow at a Bulblin's chest, but the arrow bounced off his mail shirt. The children stayed back, Redhead rolling up his sleeves, though the wagon was not big enough to allow everyone to fight at the same time.

"Go on! Hurt them!" Redhead squeaked.

The teenagers withdrew their hatchets and prepared to fight, Leo and Raven thrusting their spears forwards repeatedly to keep the Bulblins back. The length of the spears kept the Bulblins back only momentarily, for the Bulblins advanced anyways. Cougar, Sunny, and Dreadlocks went in front everyone else and began chopping their hatches repeatedly at the five Bulblins, exchanging blows with them, but also getting in the way of their brothers' spears and so the spearmen paused. While being clubbed in the forearms and body, the three brothers chopped back, kicking, punching and pushing as well, and after wounding the much shorter enemies, gradually fought the Bulblins until the horned critters fell out the wagon.

Meanwhile, Romani and the child Links spun around to help Linkle, Malon and Cremia, but the kids just ended up swarming into one another, Snow losing balance and falling over. Linkle thrust her shoulders backwards, so that she rammed the Bulblin against the side of the opening at the front of the wagon, but he remained on her back. Little Link jumped at Linkle, putting the Bulblin on her in a choke hold from behind, and the Bulblin fell backwards, and the tanned Link, Leo and Raven stomped upon the Bulblin and threw him out the back.

Romani pounded her little fists against the Bulblin on Cremia, and Redhead stabbed his knife into the Bulblin on Malon and bit him in the back of the neck, causing the Bulblin to cry out and let go of Malon. When that happened, Malon and Linkle pushed the Bulblin out the wagon while Redhead and his other young brothers stabbed the Bulblin repeatedly, and the Bulblin was immediately run over by the wheels. Everyone nearby attacked the Bulblin still on Malon and shoved him out the wagon. Several more Bulblins jumped from trees and landed on the wagon.

"Leo! Malon! You two guard Cremia! Raven, you're with me at the back of the wagon!" Linkle shouted, and after some shuffling, Leo and Malon guarded Cremia, whilst Linkle and Leo went to the back of the wagon. "This way, both ends will have a shooter supported by a spear, ya'll know what to do!" Linkle continued, she and Malon reloading their crossbows.

Just as the exchanging of places occurred, three Bulblins hopped off the roof at the front of the wagon, but Leo raised his spear, catching one Bulbin midair, and by pushing the spear sideways, redirected the Bulblin's descent, and he fell off the wagon. However, a Bulblin landed on his shoulders, and another fell atop Cremia; Malon started bashing the Bulblin with her crossbow.

Being so big and strong, Leo was untroubled by the weight of the Bulblin or the strikes of his club, so Leo rammed his spear into the head of the Bulblin attacking Cremia, the impact causing the Bulblin to roll off Cremia and then out the wagon. He then put his spear down, raised his arms over his head, grabbed the Bulblin by the horns, and threw him out the wagon.

At the back of the wagon, Linkle and Romani readied their ranged weapons, for some Bulblin archers at either side of the road shot arrows at the wagon as it drove passed them, so Linkle and Romani shot back at them. Raven heard the footfall of the Bulblins atop the wagon, and once they gripped the ledge of the roof as to swing into the wagon, Raven simply raised his spear, and one Bulblin swung into it, bounced off it, and fell. Romani and Linkle raised their ranged weapons and shot into a Bulblin just as it swung down from above, hitting it point-blank, and it fell out the wagon. The next few Bulblins swinging in were prompt dealt with by the passengers, who, outnumbering the Bulblins, easily pushed them out with mass of numbers and size.

"Ha! This is too easy! Fight harder!" Redhead shouted while raising his arms.

"Yeah! That's right!" Snow cheered along, running to the back of the wagon, but he did not see how close he was, and ran out the wagon, falling out and landing face-first into a puddle with a splat.

"Snow!" Raven, Linkle, Romani, Dreadlocks, Redhead and Little Link all yelled at the same time.

Many Bulblins, upon seeing Snow fall out the wagon, charged him, eager to annihilate such easy prey. Without thinking, everyone except Cremia, Leo and Malon, jumped out the wagon, eager to protect Snow, a few almost slipping in the mid as they ran to him. The Bulblins charged, Linkle and Romani shot at them, and the brothers entered the fray, Raven jabbing his spear repeatedly as his brothers hacked and chopped their hatchets with reckless abandon. Snow withdrew his own hatchet and fought as well. While everyone received clubs to the face and arms, the Bulblins were fended off, and everyone who jumped out the wagon ran up the road.

Obviously knowing that most of her crew left the wagon, Cremia slowed down her horses, and they soon went to a halt. Leo jumped out the front of the wagon, jabbing at the Bulblins here while Malon shot her crossbow at them. Although swarmed by many foes, Leo was too powerful for even many Bulblins to have a chance, and he simply booted them off their feet, bashing with the shaft and butt of his spear as well, even sometimes swinging his spear as if a big stick.

Soon, Snow and those who saved him ran back to the wagon, fighting any Bulblin in the way, Linkle and Malon shooting their crossbows, Romani shooting her bow, and everyone jumped back into the wagon. Cremia got it going again, and any Bulblin in the way was trampled. As the wagon raced away, Linkle, Malon and Romani shooting out the back at the pursuing Bulblins, the wagon eventually passed all the Bulblins here, some of them shooting arrows at it, but soon, no more Bulblins were attacking the wagon. Snow sighed with relief.

"Thanks for saving me, guys!" Snow exclaimed, and Linkle dropped her crossbow and hugged him tightly, lifting him off his feet.

"Oohhh! Don't you ever do something stupid like that again!" Linkle nearly screamed.

"I promise." Snow assured, hugging his sister back. Once everything calmed down, everyone relaxed, taking their seats, and the horses slowed down to walking pace.

Far behind, the Bulblins recovered, wondering why they failed to take out a wagon. They soon spotted Talon, still sleeping, and decided to charge the lazy horse. Unsurprisingly, once they alarmed Talon's mountainous horse, it became an avalanche, what else is there to say?

Meanwhile, up ahead beyond the wagon, Norman, Herman and Ingo reappeared, horses standing under large trees to get out of the rain.

"Oh, wow, thanks for nothing." Linkle grumbled once she spotted the ranchers.

"Hunh? What was that?" Norman asked.

"Eh? Bah! Bother, bother! All you do is complain." Ingo exclaimed. Linkle shook her head at the idiots.

"Wait, where's my father?" Malon asked, and so everyone looked out the back of the wagon. A few seconds later, a watery mist flowing through the fog came into being, and Talon soon appeared, still sleeping, his horse panicking, but had escaped the danger.

"There he is." Cremia remarked, and Talon's horse slowed down, reverting back to his original, sleepy, lazy state, and walked along as if nothing happened.

"Mm, 'k, whatever." Linkle remarked, and the journey continued.

Later on, the road that once led through a town—now leading through the forests—revealed the castle up ahead. Amidst the darkness, cold, and fog, the villagers stumbled upon twelve large ominous figures in the fog.

"Eh? Who's there?" Ingo exclaimed angrily and firmly, gripping his pitchfork, and as he and the Gorman Brothers trotted on, Ganondorf's twelve Darknut bodyguards came into view, the Darknuts pulling on the reins of their horses to turn them around, and one by one, their destriers walked across the path, the knights turning their heads, horned great helms giving them an imposing, frightening appearance. The sheer size of the Darknuts and their destriers was more then enough to cause the three ranchers to stop.

"Whoahhh." Cremia exclaimed, pulling on the reins of her horses and putting them and the wagon to a stop. She heard Linkle walk to the front of the wagon to take a look at the situation, seeing the horned Darknuts and their armoured warhorses emerge from the fog. The twelve Darknuts loosely arranged themselves across the road.

"Are those knights?" Little Link asked eagerly, pushing his head in-between Cremia and Linkle, and then the other children scurried to the front of the wagon to take a look themselves, Snow walking into a crate of milk and hurting his face.

"Hi!" the child Link with curly black hair squeaked at the Darknuts, "Are you knights?" he asked aloud, Linkle and Cremia looking at him. A few uneasy seconds passed, the Darknuts just motionlessly staring back at the villages through their great helms, rainfall clinking against their armour, and then the Darknut in the middle nodded.

"Yes, we are knights." the Darknut who nodded answered as the kids scuffled around, nearly wrestling each other to get a better view of the knights.

"Do you fight dragons?" Redhead nearly shouted.

"Are you from the castle? Did you see the princess? You must have!" Little Link exclaimed, trying to squirm his way through his brothers.

"Let me through!" Snow whined behind his brothers. A few Darknuts looked at each other, and the child Links quickly got angry at each other and started fighting.

"Hey! Stop!" Linkle demanded, raising her right arm as if to smack the pesky kids, and they quickly stopped fooling around. When she had raised her arm, the Triforce at the back of her right hand glimmered, and the twelve Darknuts shifted their helms slightly, clearly noticing the glowing golden triangles in the back of Linkle's hand.

"And who the hell are you?" one of the Darknuts asked.

"We're homesteaders from the Ordon forests, duh." Cremia replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, Linkle looking at her as she spoke, then Linkle stared back at the knights, whose horses started walking towards them.

"We want to request an audience with the Royal Family, the Ordon villages need help, there's bandits roaming the woods." Linkle said. Herman, Ingo and Norman pulled their reins to get their horses out of the Darknuts' way, the ranchers saying nothing.

"Well, I fear that you cannot make an audience with the Royal Family, for we are here to ensure that no-one interferes with our plan." the previous Darknut assured, and then six of the Darknut knights at the middle unsheathed their swords. From that, Linkle and Cremia paused with worry, and the kids stopped fooling around. The Darknuts were in front of them, so the wagon had nowhere to go. Cremia's horses were afraid of the Darknuts and their steeds, and did not want to move.

A few Darknuts at the side jumped off their horses, knowing that Cremia could still possibly ride away and escape, so they quickly ran to the side of the wagon, ramming their shoulders against it, and they started lifting it, those inside wondering what was going on.

"Hey! Can I wear your armour?" Snow asked, popping his head out the front of the wagon, Linkle and Cremia grasping whatever they could of the wagon until it fell over. As the wagon crashed onto its side, everyone and everything inside hit its wall, pots and jars breaking, flour, milk, rupees, wheat, and other goods fluttering everywhere, the horses also falling over as they were tied to the longitudinal shaft of the wagon. The horses panicked, neighing and kicking frantically, trying to get back up.

"OOHHH, SSHHOOOT!" Ingo shouted, but he and his uncles did nothing, and then they decided to call it quits and galloped away. Three mounted Darknuts pursued them, but there was no way they would be able to catch the rancher, and the Darknuts quickly gave-up. Farther down the road was Talon, still asleep.

"Someone deal with him!" a Darknut ordered, so one of them charged Talon.

Talon's horse noticed the incoming danger, and so went into a trot and then a canter. Once at a gallop, Talon's horse and the Darknut destrier collided into one another, and much to his surprise, Talon's horse ended up being knocked over his rump, and he and his rider fell down. The impact awoke Talon, who sniffled and stood up, wondering what happened.

"What in tarnation?" Talon asked, noticing the Darknut, and then seeing the overturned wagon and dismounted Darknuts. "Malon!" Talon shouted, and then he withdraw his axe, the Darknut leaning on his saddle to cut the old farmer down. Talon gripped his axe in both hands but skipped backwards, dodging the Darknut's sword, and then delivered an overhand chop with his axe, striking the Darknut with such power the Darknut was unhorsed. The destrier stood with his legs slightly spread apart and he snorted at Talon.

Still a little sleepy, Talon was unsure of his surroundings, overhearing galloping. Expecting Ingo, Talon turned around, and another mounted Darknut charged him, swinging his sword at Talon's head, the blow knocking the fat farmer down. The old man had a hard head, but was nevertheless knocked out. The unhorsed Darknut mounted his steed, then the three Darknuts' warhorses cantered towards the wagon.

The Darknuts who pushed the wagon over ran around to its back, the brothers crawling out of it ready to fight, overhearing the hooves of the other Darknut destriers. With just hatchets, the brothers charged their armoured foes, hacking into their shields, but did nothing.

"They bear the Triforce. Do not kill them." one of the Darknuts shouted. The Darknuts bashed their shields into the charging boys, then struck them with the flat of their swords or kicked them, and quickly knocked them down. The Links did not know how to fight such baddies.

Linkle shot her crossbow at one of the dismounted Darknuts, but the bolt haplessly bounced off his horned helm. Romani shot an arrow at the Darknuts herself, but the arrow did nothing, too. Her older sister and Malon crawled out the wagon, not knowing what to do, but things looked bad. If they ran away, the mounted Darknuts would just charge them down!

"Hyyahh!" Redhead screamed, brandishing his hatchet, and a Darknut kicked him while he was midair, and he flopped to the ground.

Linkle and Leo charged, Leo parrying a Darknut's sword with his spear and then swinging the shaft into the Darknut's helm, the impact stunning the Darknut, but not doing much else. The Darknut punched the crossguard of his sword into Leo's chest, and he crumbled down. Making a weird face, Linkle skipped forth, but was bashed by a shield, which staggered her, and a kick to the abdomen took her down.

The Darknuts then began stomping upon the Bearers of Courage while the nine mounted Darknuts trotted around to the back of the wagon, to make sure that none of them could escape. Three more Darknuts dismounted so that they could join in kicking and stamping the Bearers of Courage. Cremia and Little Link started crying, but Linkle and the other brothers tried to get up, but the Darknuts just smashed their shields upon them, stomping and kicking them, to keep them down and make sure they got a good beating.

"Ha! Are these the heroes of Hyrule?" a dismounted Darknut asked, kicking Linkle in the head, sabaton breaking her scalp and causing blood to leak out.

"More like heroes of failure!" one of the dismounted Darknuts mocked, stomping on Cougar's head.

"If they are the descendants of the Hero of Time and the Hero of Twilight, I don't know how either of those two made it as far as they did!" a mounted Darknut mocked, and most Darknuts chuckled at the hapless heroes, all of them bleeding and trying to defend themselves.

"Just make sure you do not beat them too much, they are needed so that we can deal with-" a mounted Darknut said, only to be interrupted by a sudden white flash that appeared as the sound of a crack. This panicked the horses, Cremia's horses squirming against the ground whilst the Darknut destriers reared, throwing their riders off, and ran away blindly, running into trees and tripping over vegetation.

"What the hell!" a Darknut yelled, the whiteness not going away.

"I can't see!" another cried.

"Some disgusting, dishonourable whelp blinded us!" yet another Darknut whined.

"I can't see either, I'm blind too, and we're not complaining even after you beat us up." Linkle remarked, feeling blood leaking out her head and mouth.

"Linkle, I'm here, I'm here sis..." Little Link weakly squeaked, and managed to grab her hand before curling up into a ball.

"Keep your eyes closed!" a woman's voice spoke, followed by more cracking and flashes. The Darknuts groaned.

Linkle did not know what was going on, but the intense brightness created a stinging, ringing effect in her ears and eyes. The ringing was so potent she could barely think, and was beginning to lose consciousness from the extreme dizziness as well as the beating the Darknuts gave her. Linkle overheard footfall, thudding, and metallic shuffling, and then blacked out.


	21. Chapter 21 - Notion

**Chapter 21**

 **Notion**

When Linkle sat up, she shook her head, and looked around. The rainstorm had finished, but it was still cloudy and nightfall arrived, and she and her brothers still wet from the rain, their clothes and hair now also muddy and messy. The brothers, Cremia, and Malon sat with their hands over their foreheads, obviously still uncomfortable, whilst Talon was snoring on the ground, unsurprisingly. Romani sat in her older sister's lap for comfort, and Linkle's little brother with curly black hair suddenly sprang up and ran around aimlessly, running into trees, wondering why he was blind.

"Ugh, what's Crazy doing?" Linkle asked herself, but gave-up, and looked around some more, shivering from being cold and wet.

The wagon was still overturned, but Talon's and Cremia's horses were now standing nearby, unharnessed and eating grass with the Darknuts' destriers. The twelve Darknuts had been knocked out and had their arms tied behind their backs, and left on the ground. Her brothers sat here and there, still dazed, Little Link sleeping next to her. Linkle tried to get up, but her head was spinning too much.

"Uhh, what the hell happened?" Linkle asked, but got no reply. "Guess Ingo and the Gorman Brothers ran off for good."

Sitting against a tree was a Hyrulean knight, his helm off, and like all Hyrulean knights, was quite a big man, and had a chiselled face, black hair, and a heavy black beard, which rested upon his breastplate like a mat. If only he had dark skin and a hooked nose, he would have looked like Ganondorf. Across his clad lap lied a poleaxe, the hammer side definitely used to knock-out the Darknuts when they had been stunned. In the area were also some Hylian guards, consisting of three swordsmen with kite shields, three spearmen with scuti, one longbowman, and one crossbowman, the eight guards walking around nervously but vigilantly. They were probably patrolling outside the castle walls before the siege.

Linkle looked at the big Hyrulean knight, and felt a little afraid of him. He looked back with a pair of dark brown eyes but said nothing, then the two overheard rustling overhead. Linkle looked up, then someone fell from above, flipping through the air and landing before her like a cat, some leaves fluttering about.

"Sorry for blinding you and your friends, the Deku Nuts I threw were quite potent, filled with magic that normally would be used to create Light Arrows." Sheik said, looking at Linkle's right hand. "So, the Bearers of Courage have finally came to save the Royal Family, as always, after the King of Evil already did his work." she continued, Linkle's wet, muddy face paused in a weird look.

"Hunh?" Linkle exclaimed stupidly, wiping mud off her face, "Villages and ranches in Ordona are being raided by bandits or foreign soldiers or something, we came here to ask for help."

"Must be mercenaries, whom when not soldiering are pillaging. Well, if you've come looking for help, you will not get much here, and if you would have came sooner, you would surely have ended up in the dungeons." Sheik assured, then turning around to look up at the castle, "Ugh, I hope my sisters are alright... Ganondorf has returned, and by the looks of it, has taken the castle. Hyrule Castle is lost, and next, all of Hyrule will be taken."

"Wait, slow down." Linkle said, picking herself up, head feeling very heavy, and she wiped some mud off herself off, Little Link rolling over and yawning. "First thing's first, who are you?" she asked, and Sheik turned around, pulling down her hood and revealing her red eyes, tanned skin, and white hair.

"I am Zelda, a Princess of Hyrule." Sheik replied with a little bow, and then all of a sudden Linkle's brothers stood near their sister, Linkle looking side to side briefly, her brothers excited to be near the ninja princess. About half the guards walked by to keep watch, and the Hyrulean knight got up, walking to the Darknuts to make sure they were unconscious, which their dented helmets proved.

"Are you the pwincess?" Little Link squeaked, gazing at Sheik with a pair of big and shiny eyes, a little mud sliding off his hair.

"One of them, yes. I have nine other sisters." Sheik replied, holding in a chuckle at how small and cute Little Link was.

"Nine other sisters!" Romani exclaimed, running to the scene, and Sheik nodded.

"Though my sisters just call me Sheik, and I was surprised when I saw that we now have ten Links and a sister, especially considering the... diversity of your brothers." Sheik spoke, looking at Sunny, Raven, Cougar, and then Snow.

"Something wrong with this diversity?" Linkle asked.

"No, I just find it surprising, because a few of my sisters also were born with such conditions." Sheik replied, followed by a few seconds of silence.

"You're like me, but with darker skin and red eyes." Snow remarked, feeling happy to see another albino. Sheik chuckled, then looked at Linkle.

"Oh, and, um, your name?" Sheik asked Linkle.

"Linkle." Linkle replied.

"That's a nice feminine name, doesn't sound the most original, though." Sheik remarked.

"Well, it's better than Aryll..." Linkle mumbled to herself.

"Milady, we should leave soon, before the rest of Ganondorf's army searches for you." a swordsman butted in.

"The towns at Kakariko and Lake Hylia are probably the more comfortable options." a spearman remarked.

"Those are so obviously where Ganondorf's men will look first! Her Majesty Princess Zelda should retreat to the Zoras or Gorons, they were our allies for many generations, and their natural habitat and environment will be difficult for the Darknuts and foreign mercenaries to explore." the Hyrulean knight stated aloud with his booming voice.

"Or go to Ordona, it's a heavily forested area with some creeks and mountains, a great place to hide." Cremia mumbled from behind everyone.

"Yeah, and you can find ancient ruins in the forests too, bandits use them as hiding places." Malon commented, her dad snoring away.

"If any of you think I'm going to run and hide, you are very wrong. My sisters are in that castle, our ancient enemy has taken it, and that castle is mine! I plan to do something about all that!" Sheik assured.

"Milady, that'll most certainly be suicide! The castle is lost as you said, we can't risk losing you!" a guard exclaimed, but Sheik just shook her head.

"If none of you are brave enough to come with me, then I will go alone." Sheik spoke, and walked towards the castle.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Redhead exclaimed, and ran towards the castle, Crazy Link running after him.

"Wait up!" Romani cried, chasing after the two kids, Cremia shouting Romani's name, and then Sheik turning as she walked and seeing the kids following her eagerly. "Come on, everyone!" Romani called, raising her bow to gesture everyone to follow.

"Ha, at least some children have are braver than knights and soldiers." Sheik complimented.

"Milady!" a few guards cried, the other guards still patrolling jogging to the scene.

"Ugh, that woman cannot settle down..." the Hyrulean knight grumbled.

Linkle noticed that her Triforce beamed out powerfully, her brothers' Triforces also glowing profusely, the teenagers examining their emblems and wondering why the radiance was so strong. Sheik looked at the back of her right hand, seeing her Triforce flicker weakly, which could not be a good sign.

"Hey! Crazy, Redhead! Where you two running?" Linkle called, but there was no way she could stop them.

"Looks like we are going to the castle to fetch them, sis." Leo remarked.

"Yeah! Then we'll save the princesses!" Little Link exclaimed while jumping up and down, and then ran off to join the three other children and Sheik.

"Very well, looks like we are going to the castle after all." Sunny remarked, as happy as he often was, and went forth. Sheik turned again while walking on, feeling glad that more people were joining.

"Ha! Glad to see that you all can still prove yourselves to be the Bearers of Courage!" Sheik happily said.

"She's right, and we didn't come all this way just to turn back home, let's go save the world!" Raven said aloud, and soon, the rest of the brothers and Linkle sort of looked at one another, shrugged, and marched towards the castle, all of them feeling bravery flowing in their blood. Could any true hero do any less?

"Guess that means we go to." Malon remarked.

"But who will watch the horses?" Cremia asked, Talon snoring away as he often did. Suddenly, Malon cried aloud like a rooster, imitating a rooster as best she could, and Talon immediately arose.

"Uh-wuh-eee, what in tarnation?" Talon sleepily asked aloud, the mark on his head still red and visible.

"Dad, we're going to the castle, watch the horses for us, they need a well-deserved break after so much galloping." Malon requested.

"Oh, OK then, I will." Talon replied, then lied back down and feel back asleep. The two cowgirls jogged to meet up with the others following Sheik.

The guards looked at one another, surprised that a bunch of kids had more courage than they. A few of the bonded Darknuts groaned or moved around, gradually regaining consciousness, but they would still experience brutal headaches. So, the Hyrulean knight lifted his poleaxe and started bashing helmets in again, the horses overhearing and feeling a little uncomfortable, Talon sleeping through the commotion, and pretty soon, the Darknuts were silent and immobile again.

"That'll do it, for now. If Her Majesty wishes to head back to the castle, so be it, so shall I." the Hyrulean knight said, putting his helmet back on, and he marched forth. The eight guards shrugged at one another, and followed the knight, having nothing to lose now!

The walk through the forest was not difficult. Sometimes, groups of Bulblins appeared, but were simply shot down by Sheik, Linkle, Malon and Romani, and the Bulblins who managed to get close, were easily dealt with by the eight guards, the knight, and the Links, and soon, Bulblins did not want to confront them.

Later, the ten Links, Sheik, Linkle, the three cowgirls, the eight guards, and the Hyrulean knight reached the first gatehouse, overhearing the river running under the bridge. They did not hear any signs of battle, so entered the gatehouse, crossed the bridge, and entered the palace grounds, seeing the tall helical statue in front of them. Obvious signs of the siege were visible, such as the damaged hedges, discarded weapons and helmets, arrows and bolts stuck in the ground, and fallen Hylians and Bulblins here and there, and the occasional Darknut or Hyrulean knight, some of whom had been thrown off from the keep during the fighting.

Groups of riderless Darknut horses walked around, eating grass, and many Kargaroks flew overhead, gliding like vultures. The sight of many dead things was quite unnerving for the children, and they remained close to the teenagers. Since they were surrounded by discarded weapons and shields, most of the teen-aged brothers and Cremia grabbed shields and swords from the ground, but Raven, Sunny and Leo held onto their spears but took shields. The children found the shields too heavy, and so could only grip the swords in both hands. Linkle and Malon needed both hands to use Linkle's crossbows, and so did not take anything.

"Hm, there must have been quite the fierce fighting." the Hyrulean knight commented, everyone doing their best not to stop on a corpse.

"Look out!" Sheik shouted suddenly, shooting an arrow upward, which hit a Bulblin archer on the walls off to the side, and then small groups of Bulblins appeared on the outer walls and the walls surrounding the keep, shooting arrows at those who just arrived. The sounds of projectiles did not alarm the Darknut destriers, but they did prick their ears and raise their heads.

The Hylian spearmen and swordsmen raised their shields and spread apart, some arrows thudding against their shields, and the others with shields did likewise, the children hiding behind the brothers' shields for cover. Linkle, Sheik, Malon, and the crossbowman and longbowman, shot back at the Bulblins, and soon, more and more Bulblins began appearing along the outer walls. A group of ten dismounted Darknuts appeared, walking through the door of the inner wall to the side and going towards the Hylians and Ordonians, whereas a group of fifty or so Bulblins swarmed out the door from the opposite inner wall.

"There's too many of them! We can't retake the castle, milady!" a swordsman shouted aloud.

"Just watch me!" Sheik shouted back, shooting Bulblin after Bulblin down with repeat shots to the head, Linkle and Malon shooting their crossbows (Linkle by far shooting her crossbow with greater quickness and accuracy), and then the horde of Bulblins charged everyone here, the Hylians and Ordonians jumping to action.

The brothers with swords and the other swordsmen preformed a mix of shield-bashing, push kicking, and chopping, whereas the Leo, Raven and Sunny and the other spearmen stabbed with a longer range to support them, and then Malon, Linkle and Sheik provided ranged support, Linkle sometimes kicking Bulblins back who came too close to her.

The Links, obviously natural-born swordsmen, engaged the Bulblins with rapid and powerful strokes, even the children able to seemingly run forth and deliver powerful swings with their swords. The child Links, being so short, hacked at legs and chopped down Bulblins, rapidly skipping, rolling and flipping around like ferrets and avoiding everything attacking them, Little Link the most agile brother, and being the smallest, also the hardest to hit. Sheik, thrilled by the melee, put her bow into its pouch after shooting down some Bulblin archers here and there, then unsheathed her longsword, and charged into the fighting, hacking and slashing violently, cutting down Bulblin after Bulblin.

Linkle dropped the stock of her crossbow down a long narrow pocket in the side of her backpack, then she picked up a sword and shield from the ground, and went into the fight, blocking a few arrows and clubs, and hacking back at the horned goblins. Malon, who did not really know how to fight, kept her distance, staying behind crossbowmen and shooting at Bulblins while dodging arrows. Romani, being just a kid, could also only shoot at enemies. Cremia, who did not know how to fight either, hid behind her shield and flicked her sword rather weakly, but at least she was good at blocking with her shield.

Cremia's back bumped into Dreadlocks' shoulder, the two looking at each other, Dreadlocks smiling, and the fighting continued. Leo rammed his spear into a Bulblin's sternum, then lifted him off the ground and raised him overhead, swinging his spear and so hurling the dumb green thing off, many Bulblins staring stupidly in amazement. Whenever Leo kicked or punched his shield, the result was always knocking the Bulblin over.

The Hyrulean knight, with his poleaxe, hacked down up to a few Bulblins with each vertical chop, and then spun around to face the ten incoming Darknuts, knowing that even the Bearers of Coruage would have a problem with them due to lack of training. He charged them, swinging his poleaxe down and hooking it over the rim of a Darknut shield, pulling it back and then thrusting the top spike into the Darknut's helm and staggering him a bit, and then the Hyrulean knight felt a few giant swords and maces strike him repeatedly, so he swung his poleaxe back repeatedly, withstanding the onslaught.

"It'll take more than that to take me down!" the Hyrulean knight yelled, hooking the fluke of his poleaxe behind a Darknut's ankle, pulling on it while ramming his pauldron into the Darknut, tripping him.

The knight did what he could to fight back whilst receiving many blows from swords, maces and shields, but ten against one was just not a realistic fight to win. The Hyrulean knight pushed and shoved himself forth violently and recklessly, bashing the shaft of his poleaxe while headbutting and push kicking, but was soon overwhelmed and beat down to his hands and knees, and he lost grip of his poleaxe. He quickly wrapped his arms around the legs of a Darknut and pulled, tripping the Darknut, sliding upon him, and then unsheathing the Darknut's own dagger and trying to ram it into the gaps of the Darknut's armour, but the Hyrulean knight was bashed by shields, maces and swords, and knocked senseless.

The spearmen and swordsmen ran away from the Bulblins and charged the Darknut to help the knight, their spears and swords striking Darknuts' shields, and then the Darknuts swung their swords or maces back, striking shields with such force that their weapon continued and struck the guards' helms, knocking them down. The Darknuts then jumped upon the fallen guards, stomping upon them while hitting them with shields and ikakalakas or maces, then charged the Ordonians, trampling the guards underfoot.

After dealing with most of the Bulblins, the rest running away, the brothers turned and charged the approaching Darknuts. The teenagers ran to the Darknuts and began rapidly attacking them, only hitting shields and causing many sparks. The Darknuts swung their huge swords or maces, Leo managing to thrust his spear into a Darknut's visor, but the mace nevertheless slammed down, Leo and his brothers skipping backwards, the children literally doing back flips, and the brothers dodged the incoming weapons.

Linkle, Romani, Malon and Sheik gripped their ranged weapons and shot in-between the brothers and at the Darknuts, but they simply raised their shields and blocked the projectiles, but the brothers got a little surprised to see projectiles whizzing among them!

"Don't worry, we're good at aiming." Linkle remarked, Romani pulling her bowstring back, biting her tongue, and launching the arrow, which arched over a Darknut's shield and bounced off his helm.

"Pff, no fair." Romani pouted.

The Links continued to harass the Darknuts, attacking them while rolling and skipping around with as much athleticism and acrobatics a hero could ever dream of, though the Darknuts' armour was too much to get through. No more did Darknut armour break off, but now, the Darknuts wore armour with its parts riveted together and then strapped onto the body, forming a shell of thick steel no weapon could easily damage.

Sheik was rather upset and surprised, the Darknuts an indomitable wall of steel, and no matter how often their shields or armour took attacks, nothing could stop them. Even though the brothers skirmished the Darknuts all around them, the Darknuts refused to separate, always standing so that their backs faced on another, and shields presented to the enemy, so that one was always supported by two others. The Darknuts occasionally looked at the destriers, and then three Darknuts broke formation and ran to a group of three Darknut warhorses trotting nearby, jumping on them, controlling them with their legs, and then cantered towards Sheik and those near her, a Darknut with a mace getting his steed into a gallop.

"Dammit! We can't beat these guys!" Sheik spat, twirlnig out of the way as a mounted Darknut galloped passed her, his mace missing her head.

"What do we do, then?" Linkle yelled, she and Linkle and Malon shooting at the Darknuts until they had to run out of the way.

"We have to get passed them! Run around them, go through the door, there is a stairway going up to the castle! Come on! Go! Go! Go!" Sheik screamed, running passed the Darknuts and through the doorway, everyone doing the same; the Darknuts were too heavily equipped to chase after them, but the three mounted Darknuts cantered towards the door, but Leo closed it.

A mounted Darknut slid off the saddle and bashed the door, trying to open it, but Leo put his shoulder against the door and pushed the butt of his spear downwards against the kick rail to keep it closed, his brothers lunging into the door to help keep it shut by pushing their feet down into the kick rail, feeling the Darknuts trying to lift the door open, Snow accidentally just squeezing himself against a section of wall.

Linkle, Sheik, Malon, and Romani immediately saw Bulblin archers here and there, who shot arrows at them, so the girls dodged the arrows and shot back with better accuracy, and soon, the Bulblin archers were dealt with. A few of them charged with clubs, so Sheik put her bow back in its pouch, unsheathed her longsword, and charged the Bulblins, and cut them down without any problem.

"This way!" Sheik shouted, running towards a stone stairway, for extra stairways were built here and there for faster movement around the castle. The girls ran up the stone stairs, seeing the fallen soldiers, knights, Bulblins and Darknuts here and there. "Forget the door! Come on! We can outrun the Darknuts!" Sheik cried, so the brothers ran to the princesses, Redhead having to smack Snow upside the head for the albino did not notice everyone was leaving and he continued pushing against the wall.

The Darknuts pushed the door open and immediately plunged their swords forth, just hitting ground. As Leo ran up the stairs, he threw his spear at the Darknuts, hitting one in the helm, spearhead glancing off and staggering him. Linkle and Romani each shot one projectile at the Darknuts walking through the doorway as well, though these only served as brief distractions. Expecting more projectiles, the Darknuts raised their shields, so the Ordonians and Sheik ran up to the walls surrounding the keep.

They followed Sheik further up another two-way stairway, seeing a patrol of Darknuts down the other side, and the kids entered the keep, closing the door behind them. Sheik sheathed her longsword, leaned out the door, and as the Darknuts went up the stairway, she threw a Light-imbued Deku Nut at them and then spun into the keep, the resulting flash blinding the Darknuts for a second and leaving them somewhat stunned. Sheik pulled out a silver key, and locked the door, two lengths of chains crossing one another and chaining the door shut for good.

Everyone sighed with relief, glad to have a moment's break, but they heard heavy, metallic footfall down the hallway. Without thinking, Sheik ran down the hallway, and locked the double doors with an ordinary brass key. The Darknuts at the other side overheard the click, but did not really care.

"Uh, I feel bad for those guards and that knight who didn't make it..." Cremia remarked, Sheik feeling a rush of guilt, but she was no commander.

"We can't do anything for them now, we have to keep going! We have to find my sisters and retake the castle." the robed princess said, and then she walked down the hallway, the red carpet decorated with fallen soldiers, guards, knights, Bulblins and Darknuts. Leo bent over and took a fallen Darknut's mace, lifting it in one hand and heaving it over his shoulder.

"Wow!" Little Link exclaimed, amazed by his older brother's might, Leo smirking, Sheik, Malon and Cremia definitely impressed.

"OK, let's go, just follow me." Sheik said, and off she ran, the others following. When she reached the next double doors, she reached for a door knob, and the double doors burst open with such force Sheik fell onto her back, and the doors slammed against the wall, and the King of Evil himself stepped forth.

"Going somewhere?" he asked with a wry smile, crossing his arms and looking down upon the robed princess.


	22. Chapter 22 - Nowhere

**Chapter 22**

 **Nowhere...**

Ganondorf could see the magical emblem at the back of Sheik's right hand, the Triforce of Wisdom, faintly flickering. He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow quizzically, looking at the shaken princess, who was too surprised to do anything.

"And here I was preparing to hunt you down... I did not anticipate you to just walk into my castle, but I just imagined it happening, and look what we have here. It must be wisdom, but not the Wisdom your lineage was gifted, not a failing Wisdom, but a Wisdom of Power." Ganondorf remarked, not taking his gaze off Sheik.

He made an acidic smile, then raised his right hand, the back of it facing forwards, and the emblem of the Triforce glowed strongly, Sheik's Triforce dimming, and then Ganondorf's Triforce glowing with all the greater vigour, two Triangles now fully illuminated, only the bottom-right Triangle a radiant outline. Ganondorf slowly chuckled without parting his lips, tapping the pommel of the Warlock Blade sheathed at his side with his left hand. Sheik turned her head to look at her right hand, seeing her own Triforce flickering out, and soon, all that remained was just an attenuated outline.

Sheik lifted her head and looked back at Ganondorf. She did not know why, but she found him to be kind of hot, standing all smug like that with his darkly tanned, chiselled, regal, mysterious, deadly face, a face that bore some recent scars, Sheik feeling her cheeks and chest heat up and her spine and crotch tingle. She wasn't sure if Ganondorf read her mind, but all of a sudden, his smile dropped, and then he raised his chin and looked up, noticing all the Links standing across the hallway in a fighting position, the backs of their right hand beaming powerfully. From this, the King of Evil was astonished; the princesses now consisting of ten sisters was a surprise enough, and now, ten brothers as Bearers of Courage? He dropped his right hand, almost disappointingly, and his Triforce turned off.

"Wait, what? What the hell? There's ten of you now, too?" Ganondorf asked, his evil demeanour all of a sudden fading away, not even his dark, evil face able to hide his dumbfounded look. The brothers looked at one another, not knowing what Ganondorf meant.

"And me." Linkle butted in, not wanting to be left out, Little Link looking at his sister, but Ganondorf completely ignored her.

"Hmm, so that makes twenty-two Bearers of the Triforce. Now it's more of a, uh, a Blackjackforce." Ganondorf somewhat mumbled, but then chuckled slowly and deeply, as usual not opening his mouth. "Indeed, all of life is a wager."

The king calmed down and went back to his villainous persona, watching Sheik finally pick herself up, and then walking backwards away from the king, now nervously standing between Ganondorf and the Bearers of Courage.

"A wager you have always lost. If even one Bearer of Courage has always defeated you, eleven is more than enough to bring you down. You have no chance." Sheik assured, but Ganondorf did not care, and then, forty Darknuts appeared from the hallway behind him, amassing behind their king.

"You were saying?" Ganondorf asked.

Everyone was worried upon seeing the Darknuts, gripping their weapons tightly, Sheik holding her breath and feeling crestfallen. The two Darknuts at the front were about to step through the doorway, but Ganondorf spread his arms, cape fluttering for a moment, blocking their path.

"No. This is important, I will deal with Destiny, myself." Ganondorf spoke while turning his head angrily, the Darknuts instantly stopping, then he slowly lowered his arms, and stared back at Sheik.

"You can't break Destiny. Even if you win everything you've ever dreamed of, you will never control the power of the Goddesses. We are bound to them, and you are no exception." Sheik reminded. Ganondorf slowly tilted his head with a huff, then straightened his head.

"These toys are too much for any of you. This time, there will be no Goddesses, no Spirits of Light, no Twilight, no dogma, no exegesis, no Legend. Tonight, I will finish what I started so long ago..." Ganondorf spoke, and then he raised his right hand again, bent at the elbow, back of the hand forwards, and then an outline of the Triforce flew into his hand, and the symbol shone anew.

The brothers stood their ground, Linkle calmly and slowly reloading her crossbow, Redhead's eyes furrowed, Leo snorted once, Cougar and Raven eyed the evil king warily without blinking, Romani slowly started withdrawing an arrow from her quiver, Crazy Link gripped the hilt of his sword in both hands, and Snow made a little sneeze.

"If this fate is something that cannot be stopped, then I command you to render unto me!" Ganondorf stated. "UHHhhrrrrAAAHHHH!" he yelled, and a large spiralling purple vortex formed in front of him, spiralling towards him, the dark power pulling pictures off the walls and flinging them away, his cape and long hair flowing backwards. The magic prevented anyone from attacking the conjurer.

The Links, Sheik, Linkle, Malon, Romani and Cremia had to bend their knees to sustain their footing, feeling the power pulling them, their hair and clothes flowing towards it, the children dragging forwards by it. The Links held their hats down, whereas Romani and Little Link got scared and hugged their sister's leg, the sisters holding them back. The power frightened the Darknuts, who stepped backwards, cowering behind their shields.

Without a guardian fairy or ethereal companion of any kind, and since Ganondorf possessed both Power and Wisdom, the Bearers of Courage could not resist his dark powers, and their Triforces shimmered. While holding Little Link with one arm tightly, Linkle felt her right hand burn with pain, and she overheard her child siblings cry out in pain, and the other brothers grunted aloud; their Triforces burned off their hands, causing all of them to drop whatever they held and kneel from pain, Linkle feeling her own right hand seethe with heat, smelling smoke.

"Link!" Romani cried aloud, letting go of Cremia, dropping her bow, and jumping to Snow, putting her hands on him to see if he was alright, but like his brothers, Snow grasped his right hand and had a grimace.

When the pain became unbearable, Linkle screamed and fell to her knees, grasping her right hand, shaking and breathing through gritted teeth. She almost did not want to look, feeling her hood and hair being pulled by Ganondorf's vortex, but she could see smoke and golden embers flowing out her hand. Her brothers' Triforces also had smoke and golden specks flowing out the back of their right hands.

To Linkle's distraught, her Triforce literally burned through her leather glove until it caught fire, forcing her to pull the glove off and throw it away, then the light of her Triforce exploded with such force she fell backwards, her brothers' Triforces also exploding, and the brothers also hit the floor, Romani crying aloud.

The Triforces of the Bearers of Courage burst asunder, the parts flowing with Ganondorf's vortex, and rearranging themselves into the back of his right hand. The vortex soon dissipated, streaks of it fluttering here and there, and then, moment by moment, the king stood there, right arm still raised, and all three triangles emanating a golden face, shining so brightly they almost looked white. Ganondorf tilted his head with a grin, showing a row of perfectly white teeth, the Triforces of the Bearers of Courage now only dim outlines of what they used to be.

"Not that I ever needed it, I was always a fearless man." Ganondorf smugly remarked, and then he quickly crossed his forearms, raised his knees but did not fall, and snapped his limbs straight, now hovering in the air, laughing aloud and deeply. He raised his right hand, forming a chunk of unstable dark lightning in it, preparing to throw it.

The brothers and Linkle quickly regained what they had dropped, Linkle and Malon shooting their crossbows, Romani and Sheik shooting arrows, all projectiles haplessly bouncing off the king's armour. Then, Sheik pulled back her bowstring, the arrow forming an aura of yellow light that spiralled from behind the arrowhead towards the arrowhead, sounding like a continuous, reverberating chime, aiming the Light Arrow directly at Ganondorf's head.

"HHYYAH!" Ganondorf shouted, throwing his mass of lightning forth, the sorcery moving rather slowly but bursting with sparks and zaps, Sheik getting scared and shooting her Light Arrow badly into a corner, everyone running off to the sides, the magic striking the floor, ricocheting, and then exploding against the wall.

Sheik quickly shot another arrow—a normal one—at Ganondorf, arrow deflected by his armour, so she put her bow back in its pouch, and unsheathed her longsword and charged the king, who smacked the princess's sword aside and then kneed her in the gut with such force she flew off the floor, dropping her sword midair, scrunching up as she fell, and rolled up into a ball, unable to breathe.

"So much for that. Your sisters did much better." Ganondorf chuckled, two bolts and another arrow bouncing off his breastplate, one after the other.

Leo charged just as Ganondorf raised his hand again to cast another electrostatic discharge, Leo raising his Darknut mace in one hand, shield in his left hand, and he jumped, driving his mace into Ganondorf's head, the king staggering backwards midair. The blow bashed Ganondorf's forehead open, blood trickling out, and the other brothers charged.

Ganondorf kicked Leo upside the jaw, then slammed his right hand down upon his head, releasing his magic into Leo's head, the electrostatic discharge exploding and hurling Leo into the wall. The king raised both his hands, each hand summoning more magic, Linkle shooting a bolt at him but he just titled his head and dodging the bolt.

"Oh, pfft..." Linkle exclaimed.

Raven, Cougar, Sunny, and Crazy Link reached the king next, Raven and Sunny thrusting their spears, whilst Cougar and his two child bothers vertically chopped their swords in an overhand manner repeatedly, but then Ganondorf slammed himself down into the floor in a kneeling position, armour deflecting the spears and swords, and his magic exploding on impact, hurling the four brothers away, Raven flying down the hallway and hitting the doors, Crazy Link thudding against the ceiling. Linkle, Little Link and the cowgirls were saddened by such a quick failure, Linkle rushing to her child brothers to see if they were alright, and they were; they were heroes, after all.

Dreadlocks, the tanned Link, Redhead and Snow were instantly up next, chopping their swords repeatedly at the king, blades clinking against his breastplate, pauldrons, and gauntlets, so he struck back at them with rapid, repeating hook punches, his punches intercepting the swords, armour deflecting them, and the king punched down the four brothers' shields and then themselves, gauntlets cracking against their skulls and thudding against their bodies. Linkle screamed when she saw that, but the brothers got back up and started fighting the king again!

Not having a clear line of sight, Linkle ran forth along the wall, and once Ganondorf punched the four brothers down again, she shot him in the head, bolt failing to puncture his hard head and flipping in the air; Malon shot her crossbow and Romani loosed an arrow, but the bolt missed Ganondorf and flew through the doorway behind him, bouncing off a Darknut's helm, and Romani's arrow, well, it could not do anything.

Ganondorf quickly threw a mass of lightning at Linkle's head, the impact pushing her head back and it audibly knocked against the stone wall, her back sliding down the wall and she just sat there seeing stars, and then Ganondorf was polite enough to conjure masses of lightning in both hands and threw them at Linkle at the same time, her limbs straightening and she shaking from electricity. Upon seeing that, Little Link yelped, but he remained where he stood, too frightened to do anything, for being the smallest person, everything else looked so gigantic.

"Ow, that hurt..." Linkle remarked.

"Well, look what happened to me." Sheik mumbled weakly, unable to get back up.

"Don't w-w-worry sis! I-I-I'll save you!" Little Link squeaked, and then ran as fast as he could, but being so short and little, there was a limit to the speed of his sprinting.

Leo, having recovered, swung his mace low, striking Ganondorf across the back of the legs, causing his legs to shoot forwards, but Ganondorf hovered sideways and punched Leo in the forehead, gauntlet cracking against his skull, Leo staggering, and Ganondorf landed on his feet. Suddenly, Redhead, Cougar, Sunny and Raven reappeared out of nowhere, Raven driving his spear into Ganondorf's face, Cougar tackling into the king's legs, and Redhead leaping into the air.

"HHYYAAAAHHHHH!" Redhead squealed midair—Snow doing likewise, but being partly blind, ended up jumping into the wall and bounced off it—Redhead hacking his sword down upon the king's head, but it did nothing, Ganondorf slapping aside the pesky brat and Redhead hit the wall.

Sunny lunged his spear at Ganondorf's face, Sunny and Raven pushing on their spears to push the king back, Cougar trying to pull Ganondorf off his feet, but he was too large, too heavily armoured, and empowered by all three aspects of the Triforce. Meanwhile, Little Link ran passed the fighting, dropped his sword, and gave his sister a hug, not caring about the static zapping out of Linkle.

"Little Link, we have a fight to fight, help me up." Linkle coughed, zapping, hearing her itty bitty brother lightly wheezing. She hugged him back, seeing Sheik crawling towards the wall with her longsword in hand, still too injured to fight. Sheik was not a hero like the Bearers of Courage were.

Ganondorf put one hand in the other and raised them powerfully, knocking away the spears at his face, and then he slammed the bottoms of his fists into Cougar's backside with such force, that Cougar face-planted the floor. Raven and Sunny rammed their spears at Ganondorf again, but he caught both, one in each hand, and then Leo clubbed the king in the head, Darknut mace staggering the king, but he kept holding onto the spears.

Snow, Redhead and their child brother with curly black hair swarmed Ganondorf's legs and started cutting at them, Leo raising his Darknut mace to hit Ganondorf again, so the king let go of the spears and dove forth, feeling the children's swords clinking against his armour, and he tackled into Leo's midsection. The tackle continued, Ganondorf ramming Leo into Linkle as she picked herself up, she barely having enough time to throw Little Link away to save him, then feeling all the weight of Ganondorf, his armour, and Leo crash into her, crushing her into the wall. As Leo slouched down, Ganondorf delivered a few quick uppercuts into Leo's head, gauntlets busting his chin open, impact causing Leo to lose grip of his shield and mace.

"Hey, sis, you OK?" Leo asked, dazed, hoping Linkle was not too hurt, so she groaned while giving a thumbs-up. Little Link stood nearby, clueless, and looked guilty.

The tanned Link jumped at the king's backside, punching his shield into the back of Ganondorf's head, the king spinning around and swiping his arm, but the tanned Link blocked the attack with his shield, so Ganondorf quickly kicked him in the crotch, and the tanned Link immediately bent his knees and fell over.

Ganondorf then released a flurry of punches imbued with lightning, punching down Redhead, Sunny, Cougar, Snow, Raven, and the child Link with curly black hair as they tried to fight him, Dreadlocks running around, slashing his sword at Ganondorf's armoured legs while raising his shield to block a punch, but the other hand curled around the shield and thumped against Dreadlocks' ribs, and then Ganondorf grabbed the shield, pushed it down, and headbutted Dreadlocks in the head, and the lad fell over. Malon parted her lips, making a concerned face, shooting another bolt at the King of Evil, but he tilted his head and the bolt whizzed passed his ear.

"HHHYYYYAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHH!" Crazy Link screamed with such force his breath created wind, surprising Ganondorf, who paused, and watched as Crazy Link fell short and splatted face-first against the carpet. He popped back up on his feet and started rapidly cutting up and down with his sword, crying aloud each time he swung his arm. Ganondorf kicked at Crazy, who preformed a back flip and dodged the kick, then jump attacked the king in the head, sword just bouncing off, but Ganondorf grabbed Crazy midair and threw him into the wall.

"Stupid kids." Ganondorf grumbled.

Malon shot her crossbow, and Romani shot an arrow, both projectiles arching towards Ganondorf, bolt glancing off his pauldron and arrow hitting him in the head then falling down. Recovering, but still hurt, Leo did not bother picking up his mace and shield, and he jumped on Ganondorf's back, putting him in a chokehold.

"Ha ha! Yeah!" Romani cheered.

"Yeah! Go get him, Leo!" Little Link squealed in triumph, raising his hands and jumping up and down excitedly, only to see Ganondorf raise his foreheads, grab Leo by the head, and literally slammed him to the floor, then stomped on his forehead. Little Link paused, arms upright and legs straight. He overheard a few Darknuts chuckle.

Ganondorf then raised both arms, his body and armour shaking, and an aura of lightning appeared around him. Once again, all brothers except Little Link swarmed Ganondorf, but he beat them down effortlessly, lightning bolting through his punches and surging into the brothers, making them scream and fall over twitching. The king then slammed his palms down to the floor, and his aura of lightning exploded, hurling the brothers to either side powerfully, even some Darknuts through the doorway sliding backwards. The magic was so powerful that it shook the hallway, cracks forming here and there, and dust fell from the ceiling. The brothers and Linkle were unable to regain themselves, injured by the magic, only Cougar squirming a little, for cats had nine lives, so Ganondorf kicked Cougar across the head and he was out.

As the electrostatic discharge subsided, with only Ganondorf standing amidst dust, Linkle gripped her crossbow in both hands, and drove it downwards overheard, bashing the butt across Ganondorf's chin, impact turning his head, so the king grabbed Linkle by the head, fingers gripping her scalp and face, and while she kicked and wriggled, trying to free herself, Ganondorf unleashed a mass of dark lightning through the hand holding Linkle, the magic surging through her brains and she fell over, twitching and zapping. The King of Evil did them a favour and slammed a stake of lightning before himself, the power exploding and hurling the semi-unconscious Links up the walls for a second before they fell back to the floor.

"Well, this doesn't look too good." Malon remarked, not sure if it was worth shooting more bolts at the king.

The king put his hands behind his back and stood in the centre of the hallway, looking side to side slowly, surrounded by incapacitated descendants of the Hero of Time. Overall, everything looked bad. Despite the hopeless odds, Romani and Malon each shot another projectile at Ganondorf, neither of which did anything. Cremia gripped her sword and shield, but she knew she could do nothing, but she slowly and nervously took a few steps towards the King of Evil.

"No, this is my fight, none of you had to be brought here." Sheik spoke, stepping in front of Cremia, and then whispering something to Cremia, Malon and Romani overhearing. Sheik faced Ganondorf, she still hurt, face red, and breathing with difficulty, but longsword in hand. She gripped her blade with both hands, albeit weakly. Ganondorf just stared at her.

"You've never been a warrior, Sheik, just a hider. Pathetic, really, even with all the divinity and Wisdom a goddess could give you and your sisters, none of you can do anything on your own. How very pathetic." the king assured, keeping his hands behind his back, some of his electrifying magic zapping behind him. Sheik didn't say anything for a few seconds, but was rather irritated by what the king said to her.

"A smartass, hm?" Sheik asked, holding her sword in her left hand and pointing it forwards, Ganondorf looking at the tip, and then, with lightning reflexes, Sheik threw something at Ganondorf's forehead. The cowgirls closed their eyes and spun around just as a Deku Nut flashed upon hitting the king's forehead, and the sinister little woody shell, filled up with Light, sizzled Ganondorf's body.

The Light-imbued flash also affected the Links and Linkle, but since they were hurt and partly unconscious, they were not harmed by the flash too much. Already having felt the flashes of Deku Nuts, they kept their eyes shut and covered their faces as best they could.

Sheik immediately dropped her sword and withdrew her bow, and nocked a Light Arrow, bright yellow dazzling aura chiming, and she shot it into Ganondorf's forehead, arrow not piercing his head but at least amplifying the Light magic. He groaned aloud. Before Sheik could get another Light Arrow, Ganondorf, despite the pain, hurled a mass of lightning at Sheik. She dropped her bow mostly out of flinching, and skipped out of the path of the magical projectile, the cowgirls also running to the side, Cremia sticking her shield at it.

"Clever girl, I almost forgot about those things." Ganondorf remarked, and then another Deku Nut was thrown into his forehead and exploded against it, blinding him further. Ganondorf was now quite furious, teeth gritted and breathing heavily, the affects of the Light magic harming him further, but he put his hands together, conjured a massive volume of his electrifying magic, and pushed it with both hands.

"Gah! Look out!" Cremia cried, Romani helplessly shooting an arrow at the large magical volume, but nothing happened.

The immense volume of magic was rather slow, but followed Sheik, its speed varying with every passing moment, making it difficult to judge when to jump out of its path. Feeling the heat of the zaps and sparks of the immense volume of electrify magic approaching her, Sheik dropped her bow and retrieved her longsword on the last moment, getting up while slashing her sword upward, mostly out of reflex, and to her surprise, the blade divided the magic in half, and sent both halves back at the king!

Ganondorf, still shaking by the Light magic, saw his own magic coming right back at him, the two halves swirling into one another, so he unsheathed his Warlock Blade and slashed it sideways in one motion just as the blade left the scabbard, and the blade cut the halves into quarters, the four parts zigzagging back at Sheik.

Sheik gasped, so she began swinging her sword as fast as she could, so that the tip moved in a figure 8 shape, and was able to strike all four magical volumes, and they swerved back at Ganondorf. The king then conjured another volume of magic in his right hand, and threw it in-between the four sections of magic, and then grabbed his cape with his left hand, covered himself with it as if Dracula, and then stepped into the incoming magic, and flapped open his cape, which struck the four magical masses and sent them flying back at Sheik. Ganondorf then formed another mass of magic and threw it at Sheik.

Sheik saw the second magical projectile Ganondorf cast with the quartered volume coming back at her, and she did not give up. Stepping forth, the princess swung her sword as strongly as she could, striking the second magic with such force it flew back with great speed, but simply struck Ganondorf's third spell, the two spells colliding and exploding behind the quartered volumes, which only blasted them forwards with greater speed!

"Aw, f-" Sheik said, swinging her sword upwards and striking two quarters, but the magic was moving too quickly, and the two other quarters went around her sword and hit her, blasting her off her feet. Ganondorf struck the two quarters of magic going at him with his sword, knocking them into the wall, and then, upon seeing Sheik on her back, conjured a bolt of lightning and slammed it on her as she picked herself up. Her body twitched momentarily and went limp, zapping here and there.

"Crafty harlot." the king spat, his body aching with radiant Light, and then he overheard the Links groaning and regaining themselves, sitting up and shaking their heads.

Ganondorf looked at the Bearers of Courage, then noticed Sheik sat up and threw a Deku Nut yet again! Ganondorf closed his eyes and spun around, covering himself with his cloak, but nothing happened. After a few seconds, Ganondorf looked forwards again, seeing a Deku Nut a few feet in front of him, just lying there, and then it exploded, blinding Ganondorf yet again!

"Aw! What the hell! Do Deku Nuts have a mind of their own now?" Ganondorf yelled, vision filled with brightness. "Knights! Don't just stand there, come in here, and threw these scoundrels into the dungeons!" the king ordered, and then the Darknuts poured in, stomping upon the Bearers of Courage as they picked themselves up, they fighting back at least with kicking, but were overwhelmed.

Romani and Malon shot projectiles at the Darknuts, but that did nothing. Sheik, frightened, threw a handful of Deku Nuts, but the Darknuts, behind their shields, avoided most of the flash, and then they instantly started stamping Sheik into the floor. The cowgirls became terrified and cowered, covering their heads, and at that, were spared a beating.

The Darknuts dropped their ikakalakas or maces and shields, grabbing everyone in the hallway, Cremia hitting her assailants with her sword and shield but was overwhelmed. The Darknuts disarmed everyone and carried them away, Ganondorf rubbing his eyes. Sheik and everyone else squirmed, but were unable to free themselves no matter how much they kicked and thrashed. They lost.

Down below, the Darknuts transported everyone to the dungeons, carrying them by the belt and back of the shirt while carelessly bashing them along the walls. The aqueducts rushed water along various adjacent passageways. Doors opened, and the Darknuts hurled everyone into cells as if they were logs.

There were forty cells, twenty on each side of the chamber, just one of many renovations Hyrule Castle underwent long ago. In the cells were also guards, soldiers, some gypsies, merchants, the gardeners, nobles, the squires, and even some knights.

Crazy Link sat up, brushing himself off, clothes zapping a little. He rubbed his eyes and face and looked around, quickly realizing he was sitting in a cell. At that, he lowered his head and shoulders disappointingly.

"Crap." Crazy Link remarked.

"That's exactly what I said when I ended up here." a girl said, and when Crazy Link looked to the side, Crazy Zelda happened to be sitting nearby.


	23. Chapter 23 - Defeated?

**Chapter 23**

 **Defeated?**

Imprisonment wasn't fun; the Darknuts confiscated weapons they found, but did not bother with the Ordonians' supplies or hatchets, not viewing the tools as dangerous. The dungeons had various passageways here and there, as well as channels for water, the dungeons, apparently, merged with aqueducts. The forty cells here were simplified, and had a hallway that led directly to a large tower having stone stairs protruding from the walls, leaving a vast opening in the centre.

After the Darknuts slammed the double doors closed and left, only torchlight illuminated the area. Why torches were aligned along the walls was anybody's guess, and how they were always burning with smokeless fire was an even greater mystery. Perhaps Din had something to do with everlasting smokeless fire.

The Darknuts had surely simply thrown people randomly into the various cells, but some cells had up to a few prisoners inside, and a few were quite large and had several people inside. Of course, all prisoners had been disarmed, but the knights and soldiery still wore their armour. By the looks of it, only the knights, soldiers, guards, and armoured princesses were enchained.

Crazy Link picked himself up, rubbing his curly black hair, blue eyes scanning the area. He walked to the bars and grabbed them, trying to pull them apart, tilting his head back, closing his eyes, grimacing, and biting his lower lip, pulling on the bars until his little knuckles turned white, and when he opened his eyes, realized that nothing happened. So, he pushed his face between two bars, trying to squeeze his way through, but the bars were too close together.

"Yeah, don't you think I already tried that?" Crazy Zelda asked, pushing Crazy Link out of the way, and then she herself trying to pull apart the bars, even pushing and shaking as much as she could, face scrunching up and tilting all over the place. "See? It doesn't work!" the princess squeaked through clenched teeth.

"Go away, dummy." Crazy Link said, pushing aside Crazy Zelda and trying to bend the bars.

"You idiot! You don't know what you're doing!" Crazy Zelda whined, then the two started pushing each others faces, both trying to bend the bars in the same spot and fighting over it.

"I could not bend these bars apart either, no sense trying." a Hyrulean knight remarked from his cell, but the two dumb kids didn't stop fighting.

"Yeah, we're quite stuck here." a squire said.

"I cannot believe I ended up being captured, I would have preferred to fight to the death." another Hyrulean knight grumbled, walking around, chain links clinking together as he moved pointlessly.

"I hope the plants are alright..." a gardener mumbled.

"I hope the horses and my dad are OK." Malon remarked.

"Romani? Are you alright?" Cremia called.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Romani called back from somewhere.

"I wish I could eat some cake." Pear muttered to herself. Those talking all came from different cells.

"I wonder if you can find any green rupees around here somewhere?" a merchant asked himself, overturning little rocks he found, but there was nothing underneath.

"Matthias? Are you down here, too?" Vampire called, but there was no reply.

"Hunh? Hello?" a nobleman called, soon followed by some murmuring.

"Shh! If we're too loud, the Darknuts will come back and start terrorizing us! Be quiet!" a Hylian guard whispered strongly.

"Well, we have to do something!" another squire implored.

"There's nothing we can do, Ganondorf already won, there's nothing left to do." Black Panther grumbled, sitting with her back against the wall, she still in her armour but her armet was on the ground, and when she looked up, she saw a young man in the cell across from hers, who also just lifted his head, sitting with his back against the wall. Torchlight flickered, illuminating enough of him to reveal he was Cougar. The two felines stared at each other warily.

"No, this isn't over yet." Lionheart remarked rather softly, who lied on her side, facing the bars, weak and injured, but not dead. She sniffled, surely having caught a cold being in a damp, dark, cold area while wounded.

"Lionheart, don't talk, just sleep, you need rest!" Vampire cheeped from the darkness, her cell having no torchlight anywhere near it, but her concern made Lionheart chuckle.

"It will take more than injury and sickness to stop me, sis. Ganondorf absorbed our Triforces, but this is far from over, we just have to wait until the descendants of the Hero of Time come and save us, just like in the stories." the maned princess assured. Sheik said nothing, scrunched up and sitting in her corner, knees to her chest, crestfallen.

"OK, hold on a sec, what's this about this Triforce?" Linkle asked aloud, looking at the back of her right hand again, but her Triforce was still gone.

"Hunh? Don't you know?" one of the princess twins said.

"That those with a Triforce on their hand are part of destiny?" the other twin asked.

"What? Oh, that Triangle thingy on the back of my hand? Yeah, my and my brothers all lost that, that gargoyle of a man, Ganondorf, took it from us." Linkle remarked rather optimistically, as if she didn't care but kinda found it cool. Upon hearing that, Lionheart's heart sank, and she sighed.

"So, the Bearers of Courage are imprisoned here, too, already?" Lionheart asked, trying to sit up, but was in too much pain.

"Yup, guess so!" Sunny remarked happily, for gloom and doom could not break his spirits.

"Then the legend is over. Not even the Goddesses are doing anything for us. We lost, there is nothing." Lionheart said.

"No we didn't, I am a Golden Goddess, so it'll go on." Goldilocks Zelda butted in, moving a hand through her hair, overhearing her crazy sister mutter something to Crazy Link, the two still fighting.

"Hey! Settle down over there!" Pear stated aloud with her hands on her hips, standing up to the bars, but the two kids did not listen. "I said STOP FIGHTING!" Pear yelled, her crazy little sister and Crazy Link stopping, and then the double doors leading to the dungeons flung open, two Darknuts walking in. "Oh, oopsies..." Pear squeaked, covering her mouth with both hands and kneeling, everyone else becoming silent.

"Who is making noise? We told you last time to stay quiet!" a Darknut shouted, then he unlocked and entered a random cell, soon followed by a brief struggle and the sounds of clad fists thudding against someone's body. The castellan was inside this cell, wrestling with the Darknut, but was too old and too wounded, and was easily thrown down and kicked repeatedly. The two other prisoners here, nobles, cowered in fear and did nothing.

The other Darknut walked passed Pear's cell, she gasping, but the Darknut continued walking, going to the next cell, unlocking it, hearing the three merchants inside whimperimh, and then the merchants were beaten up, they crying out and flailing their limbs, but they were no warriors. Pear could do nothing, hearing the merchants in the next cell squirming and whimpering, the Darknut's gauntlets thudding against them over and over again, until they became quiet. After the two Darknuts finished beating up their victims, they left the cells, locked them, and walked away.

"Trip!" Crazy Link exclaimed suddenly, he lying down with his arm extending through the bars and along the ground, tongue hanging out his mouth, he grabbing a Darknut's greave, intending to trip him, but the Darknut just continued walking, kicking his foot out of Crazy Link's grasp.

"Ah ha!" Crazy Zelda exclaimed, jumping on Crazy Link's back and trying to smash his face into the ground. The Darknuts overheard and turned around, see this girl on top of this boy trying to smash his face, which looked funny enough for they to chuckle, and then they left the dungeon. After a few seconds, a few rats started running around, squeaking, looking for food.

"Gah! Rats!" the fat gardener exclaimed standing on one foot as the rats ran around, some prisoners dancing around to stay away from the critters, even the guards jumping around. Armour protected the wearer's body, but did not necessarily protect courage.

"Shoo, rat! Shoo!" another gardener cried, waving her arms at a rat as it sniffed around.

"Oh no! More rats!" a noble exclaimed, several more rats scurrying about randomly.

"WHAT!? There's rats down here?" Goldilocks exclaimed, and then immediately tried jumping up the wall, and as a fat rat ran into her cell, she leapt upon the bars, holding onto them, and climbing up them as high as possible.

Linkle walked from corner to corner in her cell, map and compass in her hands, which were obviously not confiscated by the Darknuts.

"There's got to be a way out of here somewhere, like a secret, or a wall that you can walk through..." Linkle said to herself, feeling the walls here and there, but found no secrets. Her map only showed a few coloured triangles and white dots amidst a green surface, like those meant anything. Engrossed by her navigation, Linkle did not care about the rats.

The Links and the farmgirls were not bothered by the rats, one rat even hopping on Dreadlocks' lap, he stroking it, feeling the rodent's fur as it moved around under his hand. Romani made a few rodent friends herself. Curiously enough, when three rats ran into Cougar's cell, they stopped, looking up at him, one standing on its hind legs, then they all suddenly darted off. The rats also avoided Black Panther's cell.

"Rats? Now I can have a pet!" Snow exclaimed, picking up a large dark stone. "This isn't a rat." he remarked to himself, the rat running away and soon going to Crazy Link's cell.

"Oo! A rat!" Crazy Link exclaimed as the rat ran passed his face and then into his cell, Crazy Zelda—who was still mounted on the boy's back while he was face-down and about to start punching him—pausing.

"What? A rat?" Crazy Zelda demanded, and then Crazy Link sat up, movement pushing the princess off himself, and then he started running from corner to corner, trying to catch the rats, but they always scurried away.

"Get back here, you rat!" Crazy Zelda squeaked through gritted teeth, and then she tackled into Crazy Link's back and took him down, and then this fat white rat jumped on her knee-high boot and started humping it. Crazy Zelda paused and turned her head with this weird, angry face, right eye twitching at what she beheld. "AW WHAT THE HELL, THIS RAT'S HUMPING MY LEG!" she screamed, then grabbed the fat white rat and threw it against the wall.

"Stop fighting!" Pear pleaded from the darkness, but like the kids would listen to her.

"She's a little warrior, let her be one." Lionheart remarked.

Taking advantage of the situation, Crazy Link wiggled out from beneath Crazy Zelda and freed himself, leaving his tongue hanging out. He got up and turned around, the princess ready to pounce, breathing like an animal. She snarled and lunged forth.

"HYYAAAAGH!" Crazy Link screamed, jumping in an arc just as the princess dove at him, and they both bonked foreheads midair and fell down motionlessly. So much for that.

As the other prisoners scrambled in their cells from the rats, the doors to the dungeon suddenly flung open, and with such force they slammed against the walls, the booming echo frightening the rats farther down the dungeon.

"FOR THE LOVE OF HELL, WE SAID BE QUIET!" a Darknut screamed, stamping his way into the dungeon. Leo stood up, hoping that his cell would be opened, which would give him a chance to escape, but everyone became quiet. One of the knights stood and tried to rip apart the bars of his cell.

"If these damn things were not in the way, I'd be ripping you apart by now." the Hyrulean knight spat.

"Whatever. If you want to fight, we will have things for you to do." the other Darknut said.

"Only, later." the previous Darknut remarked.

"Ah, so that is why they are making so much noise, they want a chance to escape when we open their cells, because we were too lazy to chain them up. Well, we were being nice. Even if any of you manage to escape your cells, what will you do? None of you can defeat us, and even if you flee the castle, you will die in the wilderness." the other Darknut said, then the two left, slamming the doors behind them.

The prisoners sighed, but the knight with his gauntlets on the bars huffed with some disappointment. He leaned forwards, chains ringing behind him, and his helm clinking against the bars. There was nothing to do now, but to wait in the dark.

Few by few, most of the rats eventually scurried away into holes along the bottom of the stone walls. They knew how to escape, where to go, what to do. Who else?

Enough time passed for some of the prisoners to just sit and try to sleep. Raven stood in the centre of his cell silently and motionlessly, arms folded. Black Panther and Cougar slept in their cells, cuddled up in a corner. Redhead kept climbing the bars of his prison, wanting something to do. The two crazy kids were still unconscious.

Then, the double doors opened, this time quietly and slightly, but all the prisoners held their breath.

"...zhen zhey gazher zhe men as quickly as zhey could. Zhis Ganondorf will not see zhis coming." a funny accent spoke, and then twelve figures entered the dungeon. The twelve figures looked like coustiliers, wearing brigandines or hauberks, and sheathed at their sides were short swords and long knives. After them, two Hylian guards followed, swords sheathed and kite shields slung over the shoulder

"Go free them, we'll stand guard here." a Hylian guard said, he and his partner standing watch at the doorway.

The coustiliers walked down the aisle of cells, checking each one. Soon, they stumbled upon the Bearers of Courage and Wisdom, and so they unlocked the according cells. Since they portrayed no aggression or any threatening conduct, in turn nobody did anything back. Leo, who was asleep, remained asleep, even after his cell was opened.

"What's going on?" Linkle asked once her cell was unlocked, finding these men a little familiar. Did she and her family and friends fight them earlier?

"Eh? Oh, we are causing some trouble." her rescuer replied, having a thick accent as Linkle stepped out her cell.

"Sis!" Little Link cried, jumping into Linkle and hugging her, she hugging him back.

"It's OK Little Link, I'm here, be a big boy." Linkle comforted.

"Hey, wake up." a coustilier said to Leo, giving him a little kick, Leo snorting to consciousness.

"We're being rescued, Leo." Cougar remarked, Leo needing a few more seconds to regain himself. As usual, the tanned Link was silent.

"Are you rescuing us?" a twin princess cheeped.

"From the dungeons?" the other twin asked from another cell.

"You could say that, but keep quiet, less those giant knights hear us." a rescuer replied, the twins' rescuers then unlocking the shackles.

"Ah ha! I knew we would be rescued! There's no way we would not be rescued!" Goldilocks exclaimed happily as her cell opened. "Stand aside, my good man, a goddess walks here." she said as she stepped out her cell, moving a hand through her hair instead of thanking her rescuer.

Lionheart and Black Panther stood up in their cells, chains ringing as they moved, wondering what was going on, and then their chains fell to the ground. Lionheart thanked he rescuer, but Black Panther put her helm back on and said nothing. Lionheart was unable to walk well.

"Are you injured?" a coustilier asked Lionheart.

"Yeah, I was stabbed through the body." the lionhearted princess replied.

"Zhen we must get you to zhe docteur when we can." the coustilier continued. Linkle and her brothers looked around, were a few people missing?

"Where's Malon?" Dreadlocks asked.

"Yeah, what about she, Cremia and Romani?" Sunny asked.

"Hunh? Who? Whatever, we'll just unlock all the cells and see what happens." a coustilier said, and that was done.

"Oh, thank-you!" Cremia thanked once she was freed.

"Snow!" Romani called after she was freed, running to Snow and giving him a big hug. "I thought we'd stay in prison forever!"

"Hunh? We're in a prison?" Snow asked, but got no reply.

"Thank the Goddesses you saved us, I was about to lose all hope." Sheik said.

"Glad to see you're back, sis!" Blackeyes exclaimed happily as she ran towards Sheik.

"At last! I am dying to get back into action!" the eager Hyrulean knight said, he and the other Hyrulean knights stepped out their cells impatiently. The Hylian guards and soldiers were weaponless, but they could still watch over the civilians, some of whom did not want to leave their cells. The squires and soldiery looked for weapons, but could not find any. The castellan and the three merchants, still hurt from their beating by the Darknuts, had to be helped to walk.

"Are you crazy? If they see us out the prison, they'll kill us all!" a merchant complained.

"I'd rather die free and fighting!" a Hyrulean knight stated.

"We can't guarantee your safety, but you have to try. Our priority are those with the triangles, or at least those who once had them." a coustilier butted in.

"And we do not have much time left! Now, we are prendre la fuite! Come on, let's get out of here!" the first coustilier who spoke said, and then the coustiliers escorted the Bearers of Courage and Wisdom out, everyone else following.

Looks like the Legend would commence!


	24. Chapter 24 - Escape!

**Chapter 24**

 **Escape!**

The coustiliers looked around, the floor of the tower having some water, and then they started to go up the helical stairs going along the walls of this tower, everyone else following. Long ago, a wolf and an imp traversed this tower, but since then, the renovations fixed all gaps and holes.

"Hurry! Quickly! The big guards will be here any moment!" a coustilier warned, so everyone began running up the stairs, seeing the occasional barred opening revealing moonlight from outside.

"What's going on down there?" one of the Darknut prison guards called from above, walking down the stairs with the other Darknut prison guard, they having overheard the footfall and so went to investigate. They had slung their shields around their backs, and carried their swords loosely.

"Zhe prisoners are escaping! We ran to get your help!" a coustilier cried, the prisoners and Darknuts suddenly stopping upon hearing that, some prisoners gasping, now expecting everything to get even worse.

The twelve coustiliers ran passed the Darknuts. The two Darknuts then started to run down the stairs, and that was when all the coustiliers jumped into the Darknuts, using mass of numbers to push the Darknuts over the ledge of the stairs, catching them off-guard. The Darknuts plummeted, splashing against the water-covered floor, the fall injuring them enough to prevent them walking again anytime soon.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA." Crazy Zelda laughed, leaning over the ledge of the stairs in a crawling position and pointing down at the Darknuts.

"Ha, for a moment, I thought you betrayed us. Good work." Sheik remarked.

"Ya, well done, I didn't even see that coming." Linkle said.

"What happened?" Snow asked, but no-one answered him.

Once everyone reached the top of the interior of this tower, it had two doors, one at floor level, the other door higher up, with a small stairway along the wall leading up to it. The door at floor level led into the next passageway going deeper into the fortification, whereas the door above led outside to the top of the walls. Fortunately, this section of the tower also had racks of weapons along the walls, and everyone without weapons immediately got a sword each.

Some yelling sounded from behind the door at floor level, and then it opened, five Hylian spearmen and a swordsman appearing, panting.

"The Darknuts saw us, they are coming!" one of the spearmen exclaimed.

"Just close and lock the door, it will slow them down!" the swordsman ordered, closing the door and locking it just as a Darknut tackled into the door, the few other Darknuts close behind. The soldiers who just entered pushed against the door to keep it closed.

"Darrell?" Lionheart asked after she got a sword.

"Hunh? What? Oh! Hello again, princess! Looks like Ganondorf failed to kill both of us!" Darrell, the Hylian swordsman, exclaimed happily while facing the lionhearted princess, and then Lionheart approached him and shook his hand, both nodding.

"It'll take more than an impaling to stop me. I thought you were dead, how did you escape Ganondorf and his men?" Lionheart asked.

"After the fight, I could not regain myself, the Darknuts and the King of Evil must have thought I was dead, as when I awoke, I was alone, and sneaked away. I then managed to find some other soldiers and knights who survived, a few groups of them are hiding in a few different towers right now, they will be using rope to climb out and flee soon." Darrell replied.

"Talk about luck! Did you see Matthias?" Vampire asked.

"The page? No, I did not see him." Darrell answered, Vampire's shoulders dropping. "He must have made it out before me, I bet he's with one of the groups." Darrell continued.

"Do you know anything about these mercenaries?" Raven asked, Darrell looking at the tall black lad.

"I overheard Ganondorf's mercenaries talking about imprisoned princesses, and we were about to rush them and beat them up, but they turned out to be negotiable fellows, and we bribed them to release the princesses. Looks like they released everyone." Darrell answered, which was a slight surprise to the brothers.

"Yeah, they even pushed two Darknuts off the stairs." Dreadlocks remarked, some other escapees murmuring acknowledgement.

"Mercenaries are capricious, after all, their loyalty lies in money. But we can talk more about that later. We need to escape the castle, I told the others to flee to Ordon before we split up." Darrell said, the Darknuts still trying to break through the door.

"Ordon? That's where we live! If you soldiers come to the villages, you can protect us from the monsters and bandits." Cremia said, feeling glad that this entire adventure was not for nothing after all! Darrell nodded at what the cowgirl said.

"Yes, I have read reports of marauding brigands residing in the Faron Woods, which was why me and the knights got the squires to start doubling their training last week, as we planned to send them off to drive the brigands out, but then Ganondorf attacked... Although Ordon is an obvious place for Ganondorf to look next, it's heavily forested, and I heard that the tribes of Bokoblins are getting more aggressive as well, probably due to the brigands trespassing their land. But even if Ganondorf finds us, we can always retreat deeper into the forest, and regroup at the ruins, the Darknuts will have a hard time traversing the forests to pursue us." Darrell said, the Darknuts trying to break through the door, but it was held firmly closed.

Linkle, her brothers, and the cowgirls, now all having swords, examined their rescuers, the coustiliers. They stared warily at them, finding them rather familiar. Could they be trusted?

"Don't they look familiar?" Malon whispered.

"Yeah, kinda." Romani remarked.

"Can we trust them?" Sunny asked, still in a good mood as he often was.

"I don't know." Linkle whispered back.

"I think we shouldn't." Little Link chirped.

"Well, they freed us, and we can always ignore them once we get out of here." Leo remarked, and then the door splintered, a Darknut's sword getting stuck in the door but sticking through it, also hitting a spearman in the head and staggering him, the four other spearmen immediately ramming their spears through the broken door and repeatedly stabbing back at the Darknuts.

"Quick, everyone to the top of the walls!" Darrell shouted, and everyone started doing that, the Hyrulean knights waiting until everyone left, and then the Darknuts broke through the door, pulling it off its hinges and throwing it over.

A Hyrulean knight immediately jumped into the first Darknut, weight crashing into the Darknut and causing him to fall backwards into the next Darknut. The next Darknut raised his sword, so the knight quickly grabbed the Darknut's shield with his left hand, pushed it down, then chopped his arming sword into the Darknut's helm, and did little.

"Let's go! We are not here to fight, but to escape!" another knight shouted, grabbing his friend and pulling him back, and so the Hyrulean knights walked backwards while hitting the Darknuts' shields and parrying their attacks. Several more Darknuts walked through the doorway.

Not holding shields, and so being faster on their feet, the Hyrulean knights ran up the stairs leading up to the upper door and slammed it behind them. Unfortunately, perhaps twenty more Darknuts were walking down the wall from the opposite direction! They noticed the escapees up ahead, and started running.

"We're trapped!" a gypsy exclaimed.

"We can't escape now!" a merchant cried.

"Then we fight to the death!" a squire yelled, brandishing his sword.

"COVER YOUR EYES! FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Sheik screamed suddenly, everyone shielding their eyes, Sheik throwing a handful of Light-imbued Deku Nuts, which burst on impact before the group of Darknuts up ahead, and stunned them. "Now jump off the walls, jump into the trees! We flee into the night!" Sheik continued, hopping onto the crenellation and then jumping forth, landing on the branch of a big tree. Indeed, the overgrown forests were as high as the walls with many trees being higher and larger, offering a means of escape!

"Good idea! Freedom, here I come!" Crazy Link exclaimed, and he was the next to jump, flopping his tongue around as he fell, and disappeared in the canopy.

"Wait for mmeeee!" Romani yelled, she jumping next, making a loud squeak as she fell, and she too, disappeared in the canopy.

The Darknuts from the tower burst through the door behind everyone, and were surprised to see that the escapees were jumping off the walls! The rest of the brothers, Linkle, Cremia, Malon, the soldiers, the guards, the coustiliers, the castellan, the squires, the merchants, the gypsies, the gardeners, the nobles, and the knights jumped as powerfully as they could, and they rained into the canopy. The Darknuts ran to the battlements, leaning over them, wondering what to do.

Falling through branches and leaves was unpleasant, feeling the twigs tug on clothes and cutting at skin, but soon, everyone landed on branches, even the knights, after falling through and breaking many branches, slamming against the largest branches farther down, impact shaking them and causing leaves to flutter. As leaves, twigs, bits of broken branches, and a few swords and spears dropped during the fall rained everywhere, everyone regained themselves. Linkle spat out a few leaves, and looked around.

"HELLLP!" a little voice cried, everyone looking up, seeing Snow, who had fallen improperly somehow, a branch stuck in his robe, leaving him hanging upside-down, the little albino boy wiggling midair, his sword missing.

"Oh, Snow, you always get yourself into trouble, hunh?" Linkle remarked. Climbing several branches and flipping herself here and there, Sheik reached Snow, picking him up and so freeing him.

"Thanks." Snow said, the blush in his white skin easily noticeable.

"You're welcome, just be a little more careful, OK?" Sheik said.

"It wasn't my fault! My robe got caught in that stupid branch!" Snow whined, pointing at the evil branch.

"You're just unlucky." Sheik remarked, overhearing the others down below hopping or climbing down to lower branches. "Let's go, or will another evil branch get you stuck?" the princess asked, Snow looking up at her, then furrowing his eyebrows. In no time, Snow eager climbed down, eager to prove his manliness.

Once they were low enough, the escapees dropped form the lowest branches, knights and other armoured people thudding against the ground. Those who had dropped their weapons found them lying around, for darkness was not very dark in Hyrule for some reason. They also overheard the two rivers flowing off in the distance. The feeling of being free was quite comforting, and many sighed with relief.

"Good job, boys and girls. Let's go south as fast as we can and escape under the darkness of night, before Ganondorf realizes what just happened!" Darrell said, and so everyone did just that, soon overhearing snoring.

"That must be my dad! I knew he'd make it!" Malon nearly shouted, running towards the source of snoring, Cremia and Romani following.

"Hey! Wrong way, we need to get away from the castle!" Darrell shouted, but he was ignored.

Malon found Talon, sleeping in the exact same position. The Darknuts who used to be here, Ganondorf's bodyguards, were gone, as were their horses. They probably had awoken long ago but would still have been wounded, and so mounted their horses and made their way into the castle, not touching anything.

"Oh, thank Goddesses that the horses are alright!" Cremia exclaimed, though the wagon was still overturned, all goods inside probably ruined. The cowgirls got the horses together, Linkle and her brothers appearing to the scene, glad to see everything was good. Malon put her hands to the sides of her mouth and then knelt over her sleeping dad, placing her cupped mouth to his ear, and then exclaimed the sound of a rooster.

"Ohwayeee! What in tarnation? Can't a man get a little shut-eye around here?" Talon mumbled, standing up, shaking his head.

"Thanks dad, for looking after the horses." Malon said as the two sisters got the horses together.

"You're welcome! I am always a hard worker! Wait, where's Ingo and his uncles?" Talon asked.

"They left, it's a long story, but we gotta go, now!" Malon warned, the cowgirls mounting their horses, Talon jumping upon his horse.

"Hey, what happened to the wagon?" Talon asked, only just noticing it was overturned.

"It's a long story dad, let's just get home before Ganondorf's men find us!" Malon continued.

"Right this way, kitties." Linkle called, map and compass in her hands.

"Yeah! Just right this way!" Little Link exclaimed, wanting to feel important, and at that, the Ordonians followed the other escapees, and they all disappeared into the dark forest under the cover of shadows.


	25. Chapter 25 - To Freedom

**Chapter 25**

 **To Freedom**

The sun arose above the sleepy horizon of treetops, revealing that the escapees had walked all night, heading for Ordona, but the group of escapees eventually stopped to rest at the southernmost area of Hyrule Field. Up ahead was Faron Woods, where paths went in-between short cliffs covered with immense trees.

"And we made it!" Darrell exclaimed happily, many sighing with relief, and the cowgirls and Talon dismounted, Malon talking to her dad to explain everything that happened while he slept. The Coustiliers walked a short distance away, keeping watch of the area, some of them leaning against trees.

Despite Hyrule Castle lost to the evil nemesis, birds awoke and chirped to the sun, a small group of Helmasaurs ate flowers nearby, golden bugs buzzed about, Bombskits ran like crazy, a few bunnies hopped around, Guays croaked in the branches, a flock of Kargaroks soared high above the canopy, and a few ferrets scurried away. Everything would have been perfect, but Crazy Zelda and Crazy Link got into a little fight, but everyone ignored them.

"Hm, I wonder if a Bombskit could be made into some sort of product..." a merchant pondered, the other citizenry chatting away quietly.

The Hyrulean Knights, guards, and soldiers sat down and took their helmets off, feeling relieved to get some weight off their shoulders. The armoured princesses, who would be Lionheart, the twins, and Black Panther took their helms off and gently shook their heads, their hair flowing in a breeze. Pear, being short and chubby, sat down with a heavy sigh, leaning back with her hands on the grass, cheeks red and dress a little sweaty.

Black Panther put her helm down and the noticed Raven stretching, squinting and yawning. She had never seen another person with skin as dark as hers, and tilted her head slightly at that thought. Raven soon felt he was being watched, pausing in the middle of his stretching and yawning, and noticed Black Panther looking at them. After a second, Raven closed his mouth and let his arms drop, Black Panther chuckling quietly.

"Hi there!" Romani greeted, suddenly popping in front of Goldilocks' face. The gilded princess looked a little irritated she was so crudely greeted by the cretin. Goldilocks looked away, furrowed her eyebrows, and pushed her hand through her hair. "Eh heh heh! Shy or somethin'?"

"Pff, no," Goldilocks replied, "can't you see? I am a Golden Goddess, and you better treat me like one, you cretin."

"Golden Goddess? Heh heh! More like golden beetle! Seeing how your skin is so yellow, and you walk rather slowly, you remind me of a Golden Beetle, so Golden Beetle it is!" Romani assured, much to the gilded princess' irritation.

"D-d-did... did you just... compare me to a bug?" Goldilocks mumbled, almost dumbstruck, then turned around and walked away angrily, Romani wondering what she had done wrong. "Beetle? A beetle! She couldn't even compare me to something nice, like a butterfly? Oohhh!" Goldilocks grumbled to herself.

"Looks like she thinks too highly of herself." Snow remarked.

"She's always like that, don't worry about it." Blackeyes commented, Vampire watching Goldilocks go with a worried face, but did nothing.

"GRAB! THE BOMBSKIT!" Crazy Zelda screamed, jumping at a Bombskit, but it darted away and she face-planted the ground, Crazy Link running after it, and then the two crazy kids pursued Bombskits like a pair of hyperactive idiots.

"Don't run away too far!" Pear called, overhearing some giggling, seeing that most of the children grouped together. Little Link, Redhead Link, Snow, Vampire, Blackeyes, Romani, and the child Link with curly black hair came together and started chatting happily, Little Link easily the shortest child, but his black-haired brother was quiet as usual.

"Hih hih! You're so short!" Blackeyes remarked, patting Little Link's head, he immediately losing some of his joy, shrinking away from Blackeyes' hand, Little Link's brothers giggling at that and slightly embarrassing him. Vampire noticed his discomfort.

"Aww, don't be sad, you're still so cute!" Vampire complimented, which just made Little Link's blush grow.

"Yeah! You're still cute, little man!" Romani said.

"Ha! I think Little Link's in love!" Redhead exclaimed with a beaming face, the kids chuckling at that.

While the kids acted like kids, the older Links and their sister minded their own business, the young men sometimes exchanging glances with the teen-aged princesses, who likewise kept themselves to themselves, but were curious about the lads, and their looks. The tanned Link was silent as always, but did slightly lower his head and warmly smiled back at the ladies, and they smiled back.

Even Sheik looked relaxed, Pear noticing that Sheik often tried to get a look at the young Ordonian men. Pear smiled from how nice everything was, but then noticed Goldilocks sat cross-legged a short distance away, Crazy Link and his crazy friend running across the scene chasing a Helmasaur while pushing each other.

"Hm, poor thing..." Pear said, getting up and walking towards Goldilocks. Pear sat down beside Goldilocks to comfort her, leaning into her little sister so that their shoulders bumped. "Did they make you mad?"

"Well, yeah!" Goldilocks exclaimed while raising her hands, then dropped them back into her lap. "I can't believe I was compared to a beetle! Can you?" the gilded princess complained.

"Well, yeah, actually..." Pear answered, the little Golden Goddess looking at her with a surprised face. Pear stifled a giggle. "Don't let words bug you, prove that you're better than they, the Goddesses never become Goddesses because of words." Pear advised, which made Goldilocks feel better.

"Alright boys, here's the plan... we don't know when the others will appear. Hell, maybe they were captured again, but it looks like they have not yet made it this far," Darrell said once he got all the soldiers, squires, guards and knights together, "so, we need to seek them out, we need to regroup with as many men as possible, and only then keep moving."

"Hold on a moment!" the castellan stated, still wounded and beat-up, but still a tough older man with an authoritative voice. "Who made you in charge? I am the castellan, I have more authority than you do. We cannot just go on a potentially dangerous trip into the woods, especially now that Ganondorf will be looking for us! What if the others got captured again? What if they were killed by wild animals? What if they deserted? We cannot risk looking for them, we need to keep going for Ordona, less we get recaptured ourselves." the castellan said.

"The other soldiers knew the risks and dangers." a guard commented.

"But we can't just leave them, what if some of them are in danger and need our help?" a squire asked.

"And if that's the case, how would we know exactly where they are?" a soldier remarked.

"Hm, some of us should stay behind to seek them out." another soldier purposed, soon followed by murmuring of conflicting opinions, which went into arguing.

"Shut up!" Sheik shouted, walking amongst the soldiers, who immediately stopped arguing. "Did all of you forget who I am, and what your job is? I am the eldest princess, so that makes me the ruler of Hyrule, so that means I have the highest authority!" she continued firmly, then stood with her arms crossed. "I will stay behind to scout the woods. I am vastly more acrobatic, stealthy, and hardy than any of you. I will seek out the other groups of soldiers on my own, nothing within a mile can get passed me without noticing. Everyone who wears armour, go to Ordona. You, squires, you are all unarmoured and young, fit, hardy lads, you can be the scouts when you reach Ordona."

"Ganondorf's men and zheir destriers are all heftily armoured cap à pié, zhey will not get very far very quickly, especially in forests. So, we have little to worry." a coustilier remarked.

"Speaking of which, who are you guys? You look awfully familiar, you attacked us on our way to the castle." Linkle said aloud, which attracted everyone's attention.

"Ve are soldiers, and goot ones at dat." a coustilier with a thick accent assured, but it was obvious that they were not necessarily trustworthy.

"It's true, and I am willing to bet they are the ones who raid the villages in Ordona." Cremia said, the Hylian soldiers taking a few steps towards the coustiliers.

"If this true?" Darrell asked, the Hyrulean Knights and Hylian soldiery ready to unsheathe their swords and fight.

"It's difficult to explain, but methinks you do not understand real warfare." a coustilier with a British accent said.

"We saved you, we released you from the dungeons, that is enough to show you that, even in such a short time, many changes can happen." another coustilier remarked.

"Ve are soldiers, ve are only doing our job." the coustilier with the thick accent commented.

"Fair enough, then who do you work for, and why did you rescue us?" Sheik asked, but the coustiliers said nothing, everyone awaiting an answer.

"None of your business." was the answer.

"All we can tell you is zhat our commandant ordered us to free you from Ganondorf, and zhat he would have had us executed if we came back wizhout you. It's our job to make sure you are free from Ganondorf, so if we must go to Ordona, we go." a coustilier said.

"Ordona? Will we meet Italiens?" another coustiler asked.

"No, zhere are no Italiens zhere, zhis is a different Ordona, you imbécile." the previous coustilier answered.

"Well, whatever... I don't trust any of you, but I do thank you for rescuing us." Lionheart stated, still in pain, but too proud to show it.

"You're welcome. I zhink you're zhe one who needed zhe docteur? When I can, I will have him check you, he's at camp." the coustilier said to Lionheart, she nodding.

"We will go to Ordona first." Sheik said firmly.

"You heard the lady, let's go!" Darrell ordered.


	26. Chapter 26 - Faron Spring

**Chapter 26**

 **Faron Spring**

Everyone moved on, going through an old wooden gate, passed a ruined hut that rotted away long ago and now inhabited by parrots who made their nests here and there, ventured through snaky paths in-between the cliffs with monkeys and guays in the trees, and went through a winding cave home to keeses. When they emerged from the cave, nightfall had come, and stars twinkled in the clear dark sky. Everyone overheard the spring of South Faron Woods up ahead, seeing the pretty white flowers growing all around it.

"Oh, good, the spring..." Lionheart remarked, some others murmuring relief.

The presence of mercenaries, Hyrulean knights, and Hylian soldiers more than enough to intimidate the goblins and monsters of this land, and as such, nothing came to bother anyone. The spring was absent of fairies or light, but the water was crystal clear and pretty. Tired from so much walking, and thirsty from dehydration, everyone decided to take a break here without saying anything. The knights and soldiers sat down with relief, some sighing, other groaning, glad to just take so much weight off their feet.

"You think Ganondorf realized we escaped?" the short fat guard asked, taking his helm off, feeling the cool night air cause his sweaty head to tingle.

"Probably." Darrell replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, he and all other armoured individuals taking their helms off to set on the ground, and everyone drank their fill from the spring when able.

The nice flowers, the gently flowing and rippling cool water, and the stars made quite a serene, beautiful atmosphere, making everyone feel grateful and lucky to have made it this far. But, there was also sadness for those who had fallen, a sacrifice to allow so few to make it out alive. The knights looked upset, as did Darrell and Lionheart.

Sitting before the spring, the lionhearted princess just stared at the rippling reflections of herself and the starlight, just looking at her crestfallen self, wondering how all of this happened. She felt like a loser, and just shook her head, lowering her gaze. Lionheart was still wounded and in pain, but the magical waters helped heal her wound, but she still felt bad.

"Hey," Sheik said softly, sitting beside Lionheart and nudging against Lionheart's pauldron, the two sisters looking at each other, red eyes meeting blue eyes, "be grateful that we're all alive. Everyone who has fallen for our sake... that was all a sacrifice to keep the legend going." she continued, but Lionheart looked away.

"I don't know." Lionheart admitted, Sheik noticing her sister's eyes getting shiny. Sheik knew that Lionheart hated it when people saw her weak in any manner. Lionheart was a little warrior, and she often wanted to hide her emotions and weaknesses to live up to her ambition, but even the smallest weakness eventually reveals itself.

"This isn't over yet, sis. Ganondorf won the battle, but he has not won the war. You know the legends, and I had found the legends. It's not just one legend, but ten of them twice! We'll win this, Lionheart, together." Black Panther comforted, but seeing that Lionheart remained motionless, Sheik tilted to her. "Sisters together?" she chirped, and Lionheart sighed.

"Sisters together." Lionheart rather weakly agreed, and Sheik smiled.

"Good. You taught me that attitude, remember? Even the eldest learns from her siblings. Anyways, more importantly... who do you like?" Sheik said, leaning a little closer to Lionheart.

"What?" Lionheart asked, looking at Sheik and wondering what she meant. Sheik raised and tilted her head briefly, gesturing to the Ordonian boys, Lionheart looking to the other side and seeing Sunny, Cougar and Raven drinking, their brothers nearby with Linkle, Cremia, Romani and Malon, the ranchers chatting quietly and the children fooling around, but Leo sat with his back against a tree and Talon lied on his side, both of them sleeping.

"You know, those legendary boys, which one do you like the most?" Sheik asked, and once Lionheart understood, she just shook her head.

"We are in a war, and you're thinking about that?" Lionheart asked, rather irritated at such carelessness. Sheik sighed.

"You gotta have fun, too, relieve some stress. That's what you need. Considering your athleticism, you'd be really good with one or two of them, I know you sometimes think about a few guys at once." Sheik said with a little grin, which irked Lionheart enough to make her grumble something, get up, and walk away. Sheik watched her sister go, chuckled, then looked back at the boys.

Everyone else felt the spring water revitalize their bodies, which felt so relaxing after so much violence and exertion. While Crazy Zelda knelt to have a drink, Crazy Link sneaked behind her and kicked her in the bottom, and upon feeling that, she straightened herself while grabbing her backside, eyes big and mouth crookedly open, and then she lost balance and fell into the water. Immediately, Crazy Zelda turned to face upwards, splashing angrily while biting her lower lip. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, the veins across her temples throbbing.

"HEY! YOU STUPID LITTLE IDIOT!" Crazy Zelda screeched, then filled her cheeks with air and slowly crawled out of the water, clothes dripping, moving as if she did not want to get wet but was forced to step through the water anyways, Crazy Link watching her blankly. "COME HERE YOU LITTLE IDIOT!" Crazy Zelda screamed, suddenly running after Crazy Link, who let his tongue hang out and he ran away, pursued by a ferocious little girl, and no one really cared, but Romani did notice and giggled.

"Don't go too far away." Pear called without looking, filing her nails while sitting cross-legged on flowers, Goldilocks sitting nearby and enjoying her own batch flowers while a few dragonflies flew around.

"You know... that girl, she kinda reminds me of a Hiploop." Romani remarked while pushing her hand through her hair, and then noticed Snow sit beside her, and slowly lean to her, his eyes squinting and shoulders lifted, and he put his hand to the side of his mouth.

"And do you know what you remind me of?" Snow whispered cautiously, still leaning into Romani, getting her attention, but she had no idea.

"Uh, what?" Romani asked, and Snow remained motionless for a second.

"Fire!" Snow exclaimed suddenly, flicking his hands upward under Romani's hair, causing it to briefly poof while Snow made the sound of fire.

"H-hey! Stop that!" Romani chuckled, rolling her shoulders and tilting away from Snow, "Don't touch my hair, it's holy..." she assured, combing her hair with both hands, Goldilocks shaking her head and rolling her eyes upon overhearing that.

Elsewhere nearby, the gypsies rested among themselves, and a few had withdrawn a crystal ball, placed it on the flowery ground, and became engrossed by it, doing their gypsy things. They placed their hands on it, feeling it while making weird high-pitched humming noises, whispering about how they could foresee the future.

"I foresee... evil..." an abdominous gypsy woman remarked, earrings twinkling.

"And I foresee... more evil..."a skinny gypsy guy commented.

"This evil is dark..." a young gypsy girl said.

"I don't see anything." an older skinny gypsy lady with glasses said.

"That's because your eyes are closed." a Hylian soldier remarked, wondering why gypsies closed their eyes while foretelling the future, and then he overheard footfall.

Crazy Link ran towards the scene—Crazy Zelda hot on his heels—and seeing the crystal ball on the ground, Crazy Link ran to it, about to kick it as if a soccer ball, but then decided not to when the gypsies gasped and raised their arms.

Stopping beside the crystal ball, Crazy Link turned, seeing Crazy Zelda charging him, wild-eyed, bloodshot, veins at her forehead throbbing, grinning manically. So, Crazy Link picked up the crystal ball, holding it above his head in both hands, the gypsies nearby exclaiming their surprise, and then Crazy Link threw the crystal ball at Crazy Zelda; it arched through the air while the gypsies cried aloud, and struck the charging princess in the forehead, shattering to a million pieces, and she hit the ground. Crazy Link smiled, and sucked his tongue back in, then spun around to face the dumbstruck gypsies. Everyone else stared at what just happened, also dumbstruck.

"Ha, I bet you didn't see that coming!" Crazy Link exclaimed.

"I was just about to say that." the Hylian soldier remarked.

After a few uneasy seconds of silence, a crow croaking and Talon snoring, Crazy Zelda slowly picked herself up, a little dazed and wobbly, eyes rolling. Surprisingly, her scalp did not split open.

"Oh wow, you have a pretty hard head, just like us." Linkle somewhat complimented plainly. Quite woozy, Crazy Zelda wobbled her way towards the pond.

"I think I'm gonna go take a little nap..." the little princess remarked while walking like a zombie, and everything went back to normal for everyone else, albeit one less crystal ball.

Lionheart walked a short distance off, a few soldiers watching her go as they drank from the pond or relaxed, then stopped after she passed everyone, turning to the side, seeing Sheik walk to the Ordonians and introduce herself.

"Alright, now where were we? Where did we leave off? Eh, whatever, let's start over again, and reintroduce ourselves..." Sheik said while keeping eye contact with the tanned Link, pulling her hood down and undoing her headscarf to let her long white hair hang out, and then shook hands with him, then began casual chatting of the events that happened, shaking the hands of Linkle next, the ranchers, and the other teen-aged Links. The Links looked at her with their rather serious, attentive, dashing faces, but the kids just fooled around as usual. Lionheart did not seem to care and minded her own business, and casually walked along, until something clicked in her head.

"Pff, that sneaky bitch, she deliberately irritated me to get me to walk away, so she could start talking to the boys first..." Lionheart mumbled as a little wind blew through her face and hair, feeling a little foolish to have been so easily manipulated. Sheik was the agent of the family, after all.

"Madame?" a man asked, and Lionheart stopped and looked to the side, seeing one of the coustiliers leaning against the cliff side with his arms crossed. "You are injured, right? We have some more to go from here, zhe camp is after the bridge."

Lionheart looked around, seeing that everyone else was at the spring, so she approached this coustilier, finding it useful that she would be alone with this vagabond. He watched her approach him. Thinking about Sheik, Lionheart decided to take these foreigners more seriously.

"Speaking of which, now it's time for you to be serious. You attacked the villagers and made no reaction about it when discussed, and now you're helping us. Sincerely, who are you people, why are you here, why are you helping us?" Lionheart asked, keeping eye contact and slightly furrowing her eyebrows. The coustilier did not reply, looking at the Faron Spring, and then towards the cave at the opposite direction, then back to the armoured princess, who crossed her arms. "I'm waiting." the Maned Princess assured, noticing a keese land on a branch of a tree above the cliff.

"We are soldiers, we obey, and orders sometimes change." the coustilier answered, but Lionheart looked a little irritated.

"If you are concerned about my life, and you and your men risked your own lives for our sake—and truly you may have saved Hyrule—don't you think I deserve a longer answer? At least tell me your name." Lionheart implored.

"Xavier Etieve, madame. It seems you Hylians do not understand serious warfare, and I cannot reveal everyzhing to you, but I can tell you, zhat our condottiere found out what happened, and so sent us to release you. He knows who you are, followed your nation's legends, came here with us, to ensure zhat zhis Ganondorf does not succeed. Zhis ancient king, he has not only set his eyes on your realm, but we have dealt with his forces ourselves in our realm. So, tout de suite, Gattamelata met Ganondorf, becoming his ally, but as you can see, zhings are not as zhey seem." the coustilier said, which was a little surprising for Lionheart.

"I take it this Gattamelata is your leader?" Lionheart asked, Xavier nodded, "And he has allied with Ganondorf, just to trick him, is that what you're saying?" she asked, he nodded, she paused, he paused.

"Peculiar." was all Lionheart said, and she walked away.


	27. Chapter 27 - Dawn and Dusk

**Chapter 27**

 **Dawn and Dusk**

Few by few, the people, exhausted from the day's adventures, lied on the ground to sleep, the armoured ones not even taking off their armour. It was just so relaxing to lie down in flowers and grass nearby the spring, underneath moonlight and starlight, listening to the gently running waters, a natural lullaby. Even the kids lost the energy to fool around, and they too wanted to sleep.

Sheik sat beside the tanned Link as he lied down to whisper to him, and he just stared blankly with his round brown eyes, but even so, the Links' sharp faces negated any plainness. Sheik slid a few fingers through the hair over her ear, having a small timid smile, just finding this tanned kid so cute. Sheik leaned over him a bit, her long white hair draping over, and she put both her hands on his chest.

"Uhh..." the tanned brother rather choked, holding his breath, not sure of what to do, feeling Sheik's fingernails digging into his shirt, Sheik grinning like a devil, enjoying slightly touching this boy's abdominal muscles. He was glad he had tanned skin, which helped hide some of his blush.

"You are so damn cute! I just want to eat you up!" Sheik snarled through clenched teeth while leaning over the boy, her hair hanging over his face. The tanned Link just lied there motionlessly, arms down his sides, eyes rather big, lips straight, not even blinking.

"Seriously, Sheik? Don't you think he's a little young for you?" Blackeyes chirped, sitting up and suddenly materializing out of a bed of white flowers.

"Nnnoo!" Sheik hissed with good humour while giving Blackeyes a good stare, keeping her evil grinning face on. The boy sort of shuffled and rolled onto his shoulder, away from the crazy albino agent. "Hey, where do you think you're going..." Sheik remarked, then continued harassing the tanned Link.

"Ugh, stupid girl..." the black-eyed princess grumbled, rolling her eyes, then she let her head and shoulders fall back into the grass and flowers, and disappeared faster than a Deku Scrub, Crazy Link swimming through the flowers nearby until he found a comfy spot for the night.

Most of the folks slept silently, except for Talon, who snored away as always. At least Sheik and her target slept as well, and dawn arrived when it did. Darrell and two other soldiers stood watch nearby the cave, just in case, taking turns sleeping.

Vampire awoke and could not sleep, and sat cross-legged before the spring, staring at the water sadly, keeping her shoulders low. She sighed quietly, putting her right elbow on her lap and resting her cheek on her right hand, feeling a canine tooth press into her palm. Vampire did not notice, but Linkle sneaked to the child and sat beside her gently and silently, Vampire turning her head and curious how Linkle was so sneaky.

"Hey Zelda," Linkle whispered, making herself comfortable on the ground, "shouldn't you be sleeping?" she asked, but Vampire remained silent for a few seconds.

"Yeah," Vampire whispered back, then rubbed her eyes, "can't though. Can't sleep, eyes hurt, head hurts... just not in the mood for sleeping." she continued, Linkle making a chuckle, then Vampire yawned.

"So, what's wrong?" Linkle asked, and Vampire made a little sigh, but said nothing, just looking down. "You can talk to me, I've been through lots of problems myself, I'll understand." she continued, still whispering.

"Just worried about Matthias, my friend, but Captain Darrell said he was with another group of guards, I think, so I guess I shouldn't be nervous. Well, dawn's coming right now, and it's so pretty, but..." Vampire said, letting her right arm drop, and then slowly looked at Linkle, who pulled her hood back and leaned a little to the princess.

"Don't worry, Ganondorf won the battle, but not the war, we'll get back at him soon enough." Linkle assured, but Vampire shook her head.

"No, this is not about Ganondorf, I hate him, but this is something different, something stronger. I've felt this way, well, my entire life, but Linkle... do you ever feel a weird sorrow when dawn rises?" Vampire asked, which surprised Linkle.

"No, why?" Linkle asked, but Vampire shrugged.

"I dunno. It just makes me feel so... like I'm brooding, like it's my fault, like I'm guilty for something." Vampire replied, which made Linkle feel sad and sorry for the princess. No child should feel this way.

"Nothing's your fault, you're just a child, you don't deserve to feel at fault for having done nothing wrong. It's just how the sky looks, it kinda does look rather sad and lonely, but at the same time, it's a fresh new day to be happy about." Linkle said, trying to comfort the princess, but it was not working.

"Yeah, I know, but still. I sometimes heard grown-ups say, that when dusk falls, Hyrule briefly connects to the realm of the dead, making us feel the regrets and longings from the spirits of the dead. That's why sadness is so strong at the hour of twilight. It always made me wonder, that if dusk makes Hyrule feel the emotions of the dead, does that mean dawn makes Hyrule feel the emotions of the living? I guess that is why regret is strongest at daybreak, makes you remember you have another day to go through." Vampire explained, which took Linkle by surprise. Vampire, like most of the other kids, was happily running around and playing earlier, now she was so solemn and mature.

Linkle pondered about the many times she had to yell at her brothers to get out of bed, sometimes feeling bad about it, sometimes not, over the past decade. She did not even remember mother and father much, were they happy how she raised their sons? Or maybe the lingering souls of her parents seeped regret? That was not a happy thought.

"Heh, well, if that's the case, the hour of twilight is sorrow, and the hour of daybreak is regret, shows you what life is really about every day." Linkle said, and yawned. The two girls stared into the spring.

"Do you ever feel anything depending on the time of day or night?" Vampire asked curiously, looking at Linkle, the Ordonian looking back.

"Yeah, actually... whenever it's late at night, and there's a gentle breeze, and the sense of danger or fear, I can hear a woman's voice emanating from the darkness. It's as if the night is singing a sad, simple, short lullaby, just four notes at a time. It scares me, and not much does. Maybe it really is a spirit from the dead filled with regret?" Linkle pondered, and Vampire yawned again, then rubbed her eyes. "Getting sleepy?"

"Yeah." Vampire answered, yawning again. "Too bad dawn's already coming, but I sleep best in early morning, nighttime just isn't for my sleeping." the princess continued, eyelids getting heavy, and she lied down, cuddled up, and feel asleep within seconds, Linkle smiling at that.

Linkle looked down the path, seeing Darrell and the two other soldiers at the entrance of the cave, keeping watch. Not feeling very sleepy anymore, Linkle slowly stood up and stretched, and looked around. She noticed Cougar lying rather far away from everyone else, something she had not noticed before. Cougar lied in a twisted position, a hip up but torso down, arms crossed beneath his cheek, and lying beside him in a ball was one of the armoured princesses, Black Panther, the two facing away from one another, but still close together. Linkle made a small smile at that.

Morning was coming, but those who were sleeping remained so. With nothing to do, and not feeling tired, Linkle decided to walk towards the cave, looking at the sleeping guards, knights, nobles, merchants, gardeners, squires, nobles, gypsies, her brothers, the ranchers, and the castellan. It felt odd, to have begun this entire crazy adventure to go to the castle for help, only to nearly get killed on more than one occasion, then escape the dungeons on the same night of their defeat, leading to a larger adventure that would decide the fate of Hyrule. She was glad of the imminent homecoming, even though the Darknuts confiscated her crossbows, a deep regret she felt.


	28. Chapter 28 - The Contractor

**Chapter 28**

 **The Contractor**

Morning came, a feint golden sky gently beaming down upon the spring and those sleeping before it. Small birds and insects chirped, and Vampire awoke. She did not sleep much, but still had a good sleep, but would like to have had a little more. She felt rather warm under the rising sun's light, and the air smelled nice from the flowers, though the ground was not as comfortable as a bed. At that thought, she sighed; she would sure miss her bed; her back and shoulders suddenly drooped forwards.

Vampire sat up, yawning and stretching. She raised her knees together and put her elbows over them, and looked around. Most of the others were still asleep, but two squires had awoken early and practised wrestling, and Darrell and the castellan chatted quietly a short distance away, by the looks of it arguing about something. None of the Coustiliers were around.

Getting up, Vampire brushed off her dress, and wondered what to do. Most of the others slept heavily, Sheik partly lying atop the tanned Link, and Black Panther and Cougar still lying in the same position as last time, Vampire smiled at that.

"You 'wake?" Little Link suddenly chirped nearby, sitting up and rubbing his eyes and face, then making a big rude yawn.

"Mhm." Vampire replied, a shuffle sounding so the two kids looked to the side, seeing Crazy Link sit up without using his arms, and his eyes were still closed. He slowly tilted the top half of his head backwards, keeping his jaw stationary, until his mouth opened.

"HHYYYEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Crazy Link screamed with such force his voice echoed, causing birds and Kargaroks from the highest trees to panic and fly out in disorderly flocks, the wrestling squires jumping from fright and falling over, the castellan and Darrel turning their heads, and everyone else (except Talon) awoke, getting up and wondering what the hell was going on.

Soldiers and knights grabbed their swords and looked around for a surprise attack, the merchants greedily grasped their pockets, and Linkle jumping to her feet out of fear her brother was being killed. When the echoes finished, Crazy Link fell back onto his back and continued sleeping like a baby, a bubble of snot appearing out a nostril, casually inflating and deflating as the boy breathed. Out of nowhere, Crazy Zelda popped out of a batch of flowers and partly crawled over Crazy Link.

"Yyoouu... you stupid little idiot..." Crazy Zelda hissed through clenched teeth, eyebrows furrowed, right eye twitching, and then she crawled backwards, disappearing back into her dark and creepy lair of dense flowers from whence she came. After a second, Crazy Link awoke and sat up, then noticed everyone looking at him.

"Oh hey, guys!" Crazy Link greeted, waving an arm and smiling. Everything went back to normal.

Later, after most people drank from the spring, and did whatever else they had to do, the group was ready to move on. All the armoured characters put their helms back on, spearmen grasping their spears and most of the others holding their swords if they had taken one earlier during the castle escape. Hunger also came for everyone.

"Ugh, I'm pretty hungry, can't wait to just get back home..." Linkle said to herself, adjusting her backpack and then lifting her hood over her head, just wanting everything to end, and be back home, the place she is meant to be. She looked to the side, seeing Romani with the other children, Cremia mounting a horse, and Malon waking her dad up. Then, Linkle looked to the other side, at the cave, and just realized that perhaps a dozen armed horsemen trotted out of it!

The twelve horsemen were Schwarze Reiters, men who wore three-quarter black'n'white plate armour. Each rider had a sheathed falchion or sidesword and dagger at his belt, multiple holstered oversized pistols, their saddles had a war hammer or mace or battleaxe or small crossbow hanging down its side, and they all had a carbine slung over the shoulders. Leading them was a man wearing bright shiny full plate armour, with an emblem of a golden winged face at the breastplate. He was equipped with longsword and dagger at his sides. He left the visor of his armet open, showing that he had a rugged, grumpy face, and two vertical scars down each eye. He and the reiters did not look Hylian at all.

Immediately, all the soldiers, knights, Links and armoured princesses sprang to action, brandishing their swords or spears and ready to fight, so the reiters unslung and aimed their carbines or withdrew two pistols, one in each hand, and pointed them forwards, but not a single gun went off. Everyone paused.

Within seconds, perhaps thirty arquebusiers and twenty halberdiers appeared, running out the cave, these men wearing puffed and slashed clothing but no armour, and often having full beards but short hair. The halberdiers held their polearms diagonally upwards, and all arquebusiers aimed their guns, the gunners at the front kneeling and those behind aiming over their shoulders. Faced with over forty guns aiming right at them, no one felt eager to charge into gunfire.

"You move, you all die, though I do not intend to harm any of you." the fully-armoured rider warned. The soldiers and knights shuffled in their armour, they, the Links, and the princesses looking at one another, then back to the newcomers. A few horses nickered.

"Who the hell are you?" Sheik demanded.

"I am Gattamelata, a contractor. My scouts saved you from your own dungeons some time ago." the fully-armoured man replied, moving his hands around as he spoke, then he leaned forwards a bit. Upon hearing that, Lionheart furrowed her eyebrows and thought hard for a few seconds. Was she just betrayed by the coustiliers?

"They did. What do you want?" Lionheart asked, and the contractor looked at her.

"To keep the children of Wisdom and Courage alive. I have studied your realm's legends and lore, and I am rather disappointed by your lack of military thinking, and lack of wisdom." Gattamelata replied, outstretching one arm with the hand open, as if gesturing to the Hylians.

"And what's wrong?" one of the twins asked.

"With what we did?" the other twin finished. Gattamelata chuckled, then told his men to relax, and all of them lowered their guns or raised their halberds upright to be at ease.

"As you probably expected, Ganondorf is searching for you. He did not expect you all to escape, but I made sure that you did. I convinced him that the most likely place you would escape to is an ancient village in the mountains, so that is where his forces are at. We have nothing to worry about, for now." Gattamelata replied to the twins; he had a habit of articulating with his hands as he spoke. The situation was unusual and tense. Sheik crossed her arms, gazing at the man with her red eyes, eyes that could see the truth.

"Hmm... why are you helping us?" Sheik asked.

"I have a score to settle with that so-called king, but he currently thinks I still am his ally, even though my men failed to apprehend the Bearers of Courage, which would have led to this exact same situation anyways. It seems Ganondorf is unable to accomplish his quest, and my inquisitors will subtly harass him with further paranoia to stifle his dreams. But he will eventually realize what has happened, and broaden the search. That is why I came to you." the contractor said, keeping his hands down this time, but the Links did not seem to like him. The children and Black Panther said nothing, only look at whoever was speaking.

"So, what do you intend to do?" Lionheart asked; the contractor waved an arm sideways slowly.

"My men will escort most of your people to Ordona, which I already planned to set-up as a motte and bailey, presto. In the meantime, you, Bearers of Wisom and Courage, you must disperse in the farthest reaches of this land, to places I have sent inquisitors to serve as diplomats, less Ganondorf will easily capture you all and kill you." Gattamelata warned.

"We are no longer bearers of the Triforce, Ganondorf took it away from us." Linkle said with a shrug.

"That he did, but you still bear its outline. He took away most of the Triforce's power for himself, but tiny traces of it still reside in you. Although you probably think your adventure is coming to an end, this is just the beginning, and I will ensure your adventure commences." the contractor assured.

"Pff, I won't leave my family." Linkle replied, crossing her arms and sticking her hip out.

"If you think you can separate us, you're very wrong. If Ganondorf wants to come for us, let him deal with us himself." Sheik said.

"You already confronted that king yourself, and even with the Triforce at your side, you still failed." Gattamelata said, moving his arms to allude to her failure, as if a father disappointed at his child, then he continued articulating with his hands, "Ganondorf now has the Triforce all to himself, he is more powerful than ever before, you have no chance. You cannot win against him. But all is not lost. I've seen Ganondorf command and fight, I am by far the greater and more experienced commander. He seeks to destroy you, but he cannot do that easily if you all go in different directions. That way, we can amass a greater fighting force, and that will allow you to retake your castle." Gattamelata spoke to Sheik firmly.

"Well, whatever... I told you, I'm not leaving my family." Linkle stated. Gattamelata noticed that the situation was still tense and unpleasant, so he dismounted his horse, walking through his men, and casually approached the Hylians. Soldiers of both sides were uneasy. The contractor stood before the Hylians with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Like you, I was born and raised on a farm in the forest." Gattamelata said, then started walking slowly to the side. "And like you, my land was not treated kindly by Ganondorf. Did you think it was only you who suffers in this world?" he asked, then stopped, turned around, and walked the other direction, moving his right arm to articulate at the crowd, "I realized that all men must grow or die, in work, in faith, or in war. I, once a farmer's son, chose the path of war, and now am a lord of cities and armies in my realm. Because of your legends, I could rouse myself to come to this world. I believed I could accomplish this, because I understand men like Ganondorf, and men like me." Gattamelata continued, then spun on his heels to face the crowd, gauntlets clasped behind his back, and then would not articulate with his hands.

"Surely, it is by the Grace of God I had to come here, and help you as a capitani di ventura to defeat this menace. We have the same enemy. I tracked him down this far, and successfully fooled the desert rat, but it is only a matter of time before his own revelation. You simply cannot defeat him as you are now, and if you wait for him, he will find and capture you. Your only hope is to part ways, but I can allow you to retreat as smaller groups if you wish. I have already planned multiple escorts for you all to safely travel to the other peoples, only then will we have a chance at breaking the evil king's plans." the contractor explained. There was a few seconds of silence.

"Well, he does have a point..." Darrell remarked.

"It is a sound strategy, we simply cannot defeat Ganondorf and his armies of Darknuts and Bulblins." the castellan admitted.

"And what of us? It is our job to protect the princesses." one of the Hyrulean knights bellowed.

"I cannot risk bringing too many heavily armoured soldiers, which would only slow my escorts down. We must make haste as soon as possible, but it is inevitable that Ganondorf will search these forests, and so leaving our heaviest forces to distract Ganondorf here would be best." the contractor replied. A coustilier on horseback trotted to the scene, stopping behind Gattamelata's men.

"Gattamelata, Ganondorf's goblins and Darknuts are heading this way. We must leave immediately." the coustilier warned. The contractor nodded.

"Faster than I expected, I may have to give Ganondorf a taste of my leadership... Thank-you." Gattamelata replied, then looked at the Hylians. "I do not want to risk the safety of Ordona's homesteads. The Bearers of Courage and Wisdom, you must come with me and my men; the rest of you Hylians, you must reinforce the villages, and protect them as best you can, in case Ganondorf's forces raid them." he continued, and his words were not comforting to hear, Linkle distressed, head low.

"Ughh... Malon, you better look after my chickens." Linkle said.

"Don't worry Linkle, I will." Malon assured, then overheard rustling, so she turned around and looked at a batch of white flowers, and Crazy Zelda's head emerged from them.

"Hunh? Are we going somewhere?" Crazy Zelda chirped; everyone looked at her.


	29. Chapter 29 - Change of Plans

**Chapter 29**

 **Change of Plans**

It seemed that everyone would have to part ways soon, the gardeners, merchants, nobles and gypsies ready to leave and minding their own business, one merchant filling a bottle with spring water.

"I wonder how much I can sell this for..." the merchant asked himself, having recovered from his beating by the Darknuts when he was imprisoned.

The Links and Linkle went near Malon, Talon, Cremia and Romani, to say their goodbyes; the talking got too long and Talon ended up falling asleep somewhere, his big horse nearby and looking bored and sleepy as usual. Gattamelata had mounted his horse and was speaking to his men in Italian, and then, over a sudden twist of fate, Herman, Norman and Ingo appeared, trotting from Ordona and soon seeing the group of people.

"You sure can hear him before you see him." Norman grunted, referring to Talon's snoring, Ingo looking around. Herman shook his head, scratching his back with his pitchfork.

"Oh look, that lazy bum Talon did make it back." Ingo grumbled once he saw Malon.

"Yeah, no thanks to you." Malon replied, crossing her arms.

"Eh? Bah! Whatever, I'm busy." Ingo spat, then did not seem to be doing anything. Malon looked like she was ready to start yelling at them, but was too good-hearted for that. Cremia, who had enough of the ranchers' complaints, shook her head angrily and trotted to the Gorman Brothers and Ingo, and gave them some harsh criticisms, and they immediately shut up.

While Cremia continued firmly speaking to the other ranchers, Linkle hugged Malon.

"Those brats aren't important, but please, do a good job looking after my chickens, take them if you want." Linkle pleaded, Malon hugging back, then they finished.

"I'll look after your cuccos really good." Malon promised, then noticing that Romani hugged Snow, the albino boy blushing and his younger brothers chuckling. Malon, Linkle and Vampire smiled warmly at how cute the scene was. Crazy Zelda didn't seem to care, and was wandering around aimlessly.

"Where did that stupid little idiot go?" Crazy Zelda mumbled to herself, noticing a Gold Dragonfly buzzing through the air, and then it landed on her face. "Ew, what the hell! There's a bug on my face!" she shouted, and then ran away flopping her arms, and no one cared. Crazy Link fell out a tree and ran after her.

"Ugh! Just when everything was getting so fun, you have to leave? I'll miss you." Romani said as she embraced Snow tightly, almost crying, Snow trying to free himself.

"Don't worry, we'll be back next time, then we can play even more!" Snow replied, still blushing, Romani not letting him go just yet.

Elsewhere, Darrell, the castellan, and the Hyrulean Knights spoke with the princesses, telling them everything they needed to know, but the equipped princesses assured them everything would be alright.

"I can't believe he doesn't even want to let some squires go with you." Darrell complained.

"We can handle ourselves. Besides, the Ordonian villages need all the defence they can get." Lionheart replied, then slightly spread her arms to gesture to everyone, "Your princesses and countrymen are counting on you to protect them. You better do a good job." she continued, the knights and soldiers nodding. Then, she stepped up-close to Darrell, the two then leaning into each other so that she could whisper to him, "I still don't trust those foreigners... they have bandits who raided the villages. Don't trust them easily."

"Yes, Your Majesty. I will get my men and any able-bodied man to build palisades around every village, that should do the trick." Darrell replied with a nod, and Lionheart nodded back.

"Lionheart, aren't you injured?" the castellan asked, but the maned princess shook her head.

"I am alright, the spring water's healing properties helped me. Don't ever take me for a little girl." Lionheart assured.

"Eh! Are we going, or what? If Ganondorf catches us, you all lose." Gattamelata barked, gesturing the chosen ones to come. "We will go out into the field, and then split up. If my plan goes well, everything will work." he continued as the Bearers of Courage and Wisdom approached him, unsure of everything.

"Bye-bye, guys!" Romani called with an unhappy face, waving an arm. Snow stopped and turned around, raising both arms, waving them in and out with a sad face, then continued walking with his brothers, the princesses, and the foreigners, and few by few, they all disappeared into the shadows of the cave, Crazy Link and Crazy Zelda last. Romani sighed, then felt Malon touch her shoulder, so the child looked at her.

"Just like Snow said, they'll be back next time. C'mon, you can still play with Beth, Malo and Talo when we get back home."

"Ugh, but those kids are so... not fun." Romani whined.

"Well, who knows what you can learn? Before we left, I heard Talo saved up to buy a slingshot, you can make a new bow, a way better one, to show him what's better." Malon suggested.

"Ha, that's right! Bows are way cooler than slingshots. And yeah, my old bow was kinda weak. I'll make a nicer, longer one, then maybe I can shoot those ghosts next time they arrive." Romani said, Malon chuckled.

"Shooting ghosts? You still believe in them?" Malon asked.

"They're real!" Romani assured.

"Well then, we better get going fast, make sure they don't hurt your cows." Malon said.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking." Romani agreed, but could not help but take one last, long look at the cave, then sighed. Although she did not notice, a few coustiliers standing above the cliffs watched what happened, then disappeared within the forest.

By midday, Gattamelata, the twelve Schwarze Reiters, the thirty arguebusiers, the twenty halberdiers, and the Bearers of Wisdom and Courage made their way out Faron Woods, Sheik walking behind the tanned Link to keep looking at him at an angle. Crazy Zelda and Crazy Link often swung an arm at one another during their little arguments of nothing, but not much happened. Travelling in Hyrule was usually a speechless business.

Occasionally, small groups of Bokoblins would screech and charge, but were simply gunned down by the arquebusiers then hacked dead by the halberdiers, or charged by the reiters, who shot their pistols or carbines at close range, then would unsheathe a sword to finish-off the rest. Crazy Zelda sometimes ran at the Bokoblins to throw rocks at them, only to then run away, sometimes getting in the way of the real soldiers but always managed to avoid danger.

"Well, it sure is nice for someone else to do all the fighting." Linkle remarked.

As the group walked on towards the narrow pass that led to Hyrule Field, up ahead twenty Darknuts appeared, but did not wear their usual heavy thick plate armour, definitely to move quicker. Equipped with their iconic huge shields and crescent-tipped swords, even without their heavy armour, the Darknuts were still powerful foes. The armoured princesses, Linkle, and older Links got ready, unsheathing their swords, the Darknuts marching in a loose rectangular line, but then Gattamelata whistled to get the Bearers' attention.

"Don't bother, let me handle this, and I need to prove my loyalty to your cause. Men, half pike and shot formation." Gattemelata barked, and immediately, the halberdiers arranged themselves in a block, with one row of six arquebusiers in front of the halberdiers, and two groups of seven arquebusiers at the flanks; all infantry arranged themselves very tightly. The reiters trotted behind the infantry, with Gattamelata at the back, and the Bearers of Courage and Wisdom behind everyone else and observing.

The gunners fired, barrels blasting with fire and smoke, and heavily echoed throughout the area and causing flocks of birds to fly away, most children covering their ears. However, the shots either missed or bounced off the Darknuts' shields, some lead balls shattering upon impact. The Darknuts progressed as the arguebusiers reloaded, and the Darknuts gradually became exposed to fire from the gunners along the drop-off.

The second volley of guns cracked, a few bullets thudding into the ground, and the rest of the bullets clinking against the Darknuts' shields and helms, leaving dents. Two Darknuts got shot around the collarbones, and a few behind them got shot at angles in the thigh or waist, bullets ripping through the mail armour, but the Darknuts simply grunted and continued marching, in pain, the ones shot in the thigh limping, but all still determined as ever. The reiters pointed their carbines or pistols and fired as well, overhead the infantry, and more shots rang against the Darknuts' shields and helms, and one at the front was shot in the neck and staggered, but pressed onward regardless. Crazy Zelda suddenly threw a big rock over the infantry, which bounced off a Darknut's shield in pieces, doing nothing.

"Fill your guns with bullets till the end of the barrel, give them a big surprise up-close." Gattamelata ordered, and so all the arquebusiers did just that, loading so many charges down their barrel until the lead balls reached the top of the barrel.

Once the Darknuts were close enough, the gunners aimed and fired, each barrel blasting so many bullets that they all produced the effects of multiple blunderbusses, shooting so loudly they echoed a few times, and producing so much smoke a cloud of it drifted across the ground. The extreme spray of bullets loudly thudded against the Darknuts' shields and armour, so much so that several Darknuts immediately fell over, having receiving up to a few bullets in the legs, neck, shoulders and sometimes a bullet whizzed into the eye slits of their helms and killed them. Only eleven Darknuts could continue walking, leaving the fallen alone.

"Did they hit anything?" Crazy Link asked aloud, still covering his ears. The other Hylians observed, those with swords still holding them, Lionheart walking around behind the foreigners to see as much as she could, and learn.

The arquebusiers at the front of the halberdiers ran off to the sides, and then the halberdiers made one step forwards, front row going down so that their right knee was on the ground and right foot sideways, placing the butt of their halberd against their right foot, and sticking their polearms diagonally upwards. The second row held their halberds comfortably forwards overhead the first row, and the rest held their polearms in an overhand manner, both arms raised to present the halberd. The heads of the halberds also served as shields.

"They are slow, they won't easily pass our halberds." one halberdier remarked.

"Be sure to hook their limbs and neck." another suggested.

The eleven Darknuts eventually reached the halberdiers, Darknuts at the front somewhat blocked by the kneeling halberdiers who gripped their polearms in place, and those standing behind them thrusting and chopping downwards. Halberds struck helmets, shoulders and shields, a few halberdiers hooking their polearms over the top rim of the Darknuts' shields to pull them down, and so expose them to further strikes. The Darknuts did not seem to be very intelligent, as they simply walked forwards, not bothering with flanking, or perhaps they preferred to close-in face-to-face with an adversary?

The few Darknuts at the front of their group, once close enough, angrily swung their swords and shields to disarray the polearms, sometimes kicking, but there were so many in the way it was not easy to progress beyond the heads, and the gunners continued shooting from the sides. The halberdiers constantly chopped and stabbed, sometimes the kneeling infantry hooking their halberds around the ankles of the Darknuts to try and trip them, but the Darknuts were too heavy.

Eager to fight, the Darknuts at the back pushed those in front of them, causing those at the very front to fall upon the halberds, and were promptly stuck by them. Nevertheless, the two Darknuts who fell upon the spikes of halberds continued swinging their swords even when pierced, but the multiple halberds constantly chopping at their helms and shoulders stifled their attacks. Few by few, the arquebusiers at the sides shot into the Darknuts, injuring them further, and one fell over after being shot in the hip.

The scuffle continued for a few minutes, both sides groaning and grunting, and the Darknuts could not pass the wall of halberds, but they nevertheless managed to hack down several halberdiers, though the fallen halberdiers were simply replaced by the previous man, so that the wall of blades, spikes and flukes was always presented to the Darknuts.

Not only did the halberdiers attack with their halberds, but they would also parry at incoming swings or position the head of their halberd to slightly block a Darknut's attack, or hook the fluke of their halberd onto the helm, arm, ankle, or behind the knee, and did everything they could to constantly harass the Darknuts in any way possible. The narrowness of the path prevented the Darknuts from really going anywhere, and they were easy targets for the gunners.

One by one, the Darknuts were overwhelmed by numbers, their shields and arms sometimes hoked and pulled down to leave their helms vulnerable to repeat strikes, and then the halberdiers began marching forwards very slowly in unison, gradually overpowering the Darknuts. Some halberdiers even dropped their polearms and tackled into the legs of the Darknuts, to bring them down, and then start stabbing a dagger into the eye slits of their helms. The gunners stopped shooting to allow the halberdiers to fight the Darknuts, the Darknuts still standing having bullet holes in their armour. The Darknuts only managed to seriously injure nine halberdiers, but several others received minor flesh wounds.

After the fight, nine reiters dismounted to put the wounded over the horses, the rest of the infantry making sure the wounded Darknuts were finished-off, then the moving continued without further ado. Some of the Hylians were rather surprised that the foreigners moved on as if they did not care about anything. Perhaps the foreigners were just very stoic? Linkle and Sunny looked at each other for a second, but said nothing.

A few of the kids tried picking up the Darknuts' huge swords, but were unable to, Linkle chuckling at her child brothers' attempts, but they could just groan and huff with inability. Sheathing his sword, Leo grabbed a Darknut ikakalaka and shield without too much problem, his strength never in doubt, then all of a sudden he really wanted to start hitting things with his new toys. Crazy Link was poking a dead Darknut in the helm with a sword.

Once everyone walked upon Hyrule Field, feint echoes of skirmishing and yelling sounded, which attracted Gattamelata's attention instantly, so he got his horse to trot ahead of everyone else.

"Hmm, that sounds like a far-off battle." Gattamelata commented, then turned his horse around, pointing at the two mounted reiters, "You two, take everyone where we planned, as fast as you can, I will go on ahead and see what is going on. I think I may have underestimated Ganondorf, so I must rejoin my army to face him; my men will need my command to survive. If you fail, do not even bother coming back to see me." the contractor continued, then he pulled on the reins of his horse, causing it to rear and turn around to face northwards, then he kicked his hips forth and heeled the stead's side to get it into a gallop, and off he went.

"You heard the man, let's get a move on!" one of the mounted reiters said, and everyone walked much faster, following the reiters to the north-east.

"Ughhh, more walking?" Pear complained, her cheeks red and forehead sweating.

"Yup, more walking, don't be such a lazy bitch." Crazy Zelda replied haughtily, some soldiers chuckling aloud, which irritated Pear. Linkle looked at Crazy Zelda, wondering how such a young princess could be such a potty-mouth.

"Well, my short, stubby, chubby legs have to make lots of steps to get me—and keep me—going..." Pear defended. Crazy Zelda made a big shrug and raised her arms while tilting her head up.

"Well, maybe if you weren't such a fat lazy bitch, you'd be able to walk a bit faster than a turtle." Crazy Zelda continued, overhearing more soldiers chuckle at what she said, even a few of her older sisters chuckled a bit, but Linkle and her brothers did not like it. Crazy felt good to get attention from the soldiers, who found a little princess swearing rather amusing. Crazy's comment about a turtle reminded Pear about The Tortoise and the Hare. Goldilocks made no reaction, busy in her thoughts.

"Crazy! Don't be such a potty-mouth!" Blackeyes pleaded.

"Pff, ohh please... What are you going to do about it, bitch?" Crazy replied arrogantly, keeping her chin raised and smirking. That comment surprised Blackeyes, and she did not know how to react. "Hey! Goldilocks!" Crazy shouted, running to Goldilocks and jabbing her fingers in her sister's ribs, causing Goldilocks to make a surprised chirp and spin around. "Guess what, Goldilocks?" Crazy asked, leaning backwards a little and trying to keep her grin down.

"What?" Goldilocks asked.

"You're a bitch!" Crazy answered optimistically, her lips unable to keep her grin away, and she made a big evil grin. The name-call offended Goldilocks after a few seconds, and the Golden Goddess' left eye twitched, then she clenched her fists and teeth, and then she punched Crazy in the face.

Crazy Zelda wondered why she was lying on her back, shaking her head a little, and then she put her elbows on the ground and lifted her torso, putting a hand to her face, and realizing her nose was bleeding, blood dripping down her face and patting onto her dress. Pear had just grabbed Goldilocks and carried her away somewhere, Goldilocks crying, and Redhead, Dreadlocks, Little Link, Raven and the Twin Princesses stopped walking to turn around and see what happened, and Snow walked into a hole and disappeared unnoticed. Crazy Zelda sat up and touched her nose.

"Ow." Crazy remarked. She looked up, noticing Linkle standing nearby with her arms crossed, sticking her hip out.

"What you need is a good spanking." Linkle warned, narrowing her eyes, and Crazy narrowed her eyes back.


	30. Chapter 30 - The New Adventure

**Chapter 30**

 **The New Adventure**

Shortly later, the Bearers of Wisdom and Courage followed their military escort farther into Hyrule Field, the coustilier on horseback always at the front, serving as the outrider. It was a long walk, but they ended up somewhere in the central-eastern area, overhearing the echoes of distance fighting. As they reached the top of the next hill, they could see that a battle was about to take place.

"A battle?" Little Link chirped, running to the top of the hill and standing on his toes to try to see what was going on, but was too short.

"Yes, a battle. We'll keep our distance and stay away the battle." one of the mounted reiters replied.

It appeared that a foreign army stood its ground, consisting of a block of one hundred halberdiers, with two groups of forty arquebusiers at the sides, and twenty arquebusiers in front of the halberdiers. Behind the halberdiers were about a hundred bandits, very similar to those the Ordonians encountered many chapters ago. At the front of the infantry was a priest, wearing a long white robe and holding a staff with a crucifix at the end, and he ushered a prayer for the army.

At the left flank of the infantry were fifty mounted coustiliers, and at the right flank, a group of thirty Schwarze Reiters and behind the reiters twenty heavily-armoured men-at-arms equipped in full plate armour, great lances, and longswords and war hammers or maces. Leading the men-at-arms was Gattamelata, shouting orders.

Small groups of Bulblins and Bokoblins attacked the army here and there, but were easily dealt with by the bandits, coustiliers and reiters, who would charge them and cut them to pieces. Several Kargaroks flew overhead but did nothing.

Beyond the army, from the north, marched the Darknuts, with them a horde of Bulblins, who ran passed the Darknuts, some of the Bulblins having bows and shooting arrows. The arrows landed amidst the tightly-packed infantry but about half landed short. A dozen or so halberdiers and a few gunners received arrows into their bodies, hurting them and making them groan, but not taking them out just yet.

The response to the arrows was a volley of gunfire, most of the bullets missing, but a portion hit the advancing Bulblins, and thudded against their skulls or bodies, bursting through their mail armour. The noisy and smoky guns surprised the Bulblins, as when many guns fired in a volley, they were extremely loud, echoing powerfully and casting drifting smoke that helped hide those behind it. Masked by smoke, but coughing from it, the arquebusiers started reloading.

The Bulblins, although rather unintelligent, were still eager, and ran forth to continue the charge, shouting their whirring and unimpressive battle cries, their archers often shooting arrows into the smoke and hoping to hit something, and the Bulblin clubmen closed in on the foreigners. The arquebusiers in front of the halberdiers ran off to the sides, and the halberdiers at the front row knelt and presented their halberds forth, those behind them holding their halberds forth.

The Bulblins at the front ran into the halberds, swinging their clubs, but being naturally short and short-legged, were easy pickings for the halberdiers. Unable to pass the halberds sticking into them, the Bulblins were chopped down. The priest wielded his staff as if a long club.

The Bulblins at the sides inevitably charged the gunners, who fired at will into the incoming mass, then most of the arquebusiers gripped their guns in both hands by the barrel, and counter-charged the incoming Bulblins. Using the arquebus as if a long club and swinging with the butt, the arquebusiers bludgeoned the Bulblins' skulls, and the Bulblins clubbed back, ensuing constant thudding and knocking as wood met bone. Some arquebusiers had sideswords or rapiers and fought with them, holding the sword in one hand and gun in the other, relying on thrusting attacks. Whenever a Bulblin raised his club, the swordsman would thrust his sword through the creature's neck while stepping forth, to avoid the club, whilst using his arquebus as a makeshift shield or parrying tool to block clubs. They also punched with the hilts of their swords, and a melee ensued.

Gattamelata shouted more orders, and the thirty Schwarze Reiters galloped forth, withdrawing carbines, pistols, or for the very few, small crossbows, and shot their weapons into the incoming Bulblins at their side. The reiters slung their carbines over the shoulder, or put their pistols back into holsters, or put their crossbows away into pouches, and galloped forth, withdrawing their pistols or next pistol, and fired them while galloping, then put their pistol away, quickly unsheathed their sideswords or falchions, and turned inwards and charged into the loose mass of Bulblins into their flank.

The men-at-arms waited patiently with Gattamelata, whilst the fifty mounted coustiliers at the other side gradually moved out into a wing, ready to pursue fleeing Bulblins once they broke. The Darknuts far behind the Bulblins slowly advanced, but on foot, it would take some time. The mounted Darknuts were nowhere in sight yet.

Distant grumbling and oinking sounded in the distance, and then a few dozen giant boars galloped towards the battle, with two Bulblins on the backs of the big boars, a rider and an archer. Gattamelata yelled about the incoming boars, rallying most of the Schwarze Reiters to pull out of the fighting, but nevertheless the Bulblins managed to club the legs of a few horses, slowing them down enough to jump upon them, grab the reiters, and pull them down. The unhorsed reiters were swarmed and beaten, but their armour saved their lives.

"Heavy cavalry incoming from the north-east! Harass them!" Gattamelata barked as the reiters galloped away from the Bulblins, sheathing their swords and reloading their carbines or pistols. Obeying orders, the reiters intercepted the incoming boar riders, the reiters' plate armour easily deflecting arrows, and then the reiters suddenly spread apart, utilizing the manoeuvrability and speed of their horses to always avoid the boars' tusks and hooves, the boars biting at the air or swerving their heads to try and knock over the horses, but the reiters' horsemanship prevented that.

The reiters picked their targets, often feeling arrows bounce off their armour, always steadily galloping alongside or behind the boars, hearing the boars oink and hooves of all animals thundering against the earth, seeing the boars biting the air and swerving their heads as usual.

The Bulblin riders wondered why the reiters weren't doing anything, arrows glancing off their armour as always, seeing that once the reiters were close, they unslung their carbines or withdrew a pistol or crossbow, and then they closed the distance and shot their weapons up-close, sometimes so close they would literally ram the tip of their carbine or pistol into the body of a Bulblin (much to the creature's discomfort) and then shoot. After shooting the rider or archer off his boar, the reiter would then quickly gallop away, the boars too slow and too cumbersome to catch up to the horses. The reiters then reloaded their firearms or crossbows, to repeat and continue the skirmishing. The prospect of being unable to catch the reiters, while faced with gunpowder weapons, was unnerving for the Bulblins.

Back at the infantry, the Bulblins fought on, but could not bypass the wall of halberds constantly sticking and hacking at them. The Bulblins who fought the arquebusiers exchanged many clubbing blows, but being so much shorter than the foreigners, the Bulblins sustained quick punishment to their big heads; for every one foreigner they beat down, up to several or more Bulblins got clubbed down. Once in a while, an arquebusier managed to shoot at point-blank range into a Bulblin fighting someone else, and the coustiliers harassed the rear of the Bulblins' ranks, attacking them from behind and then quickly galloping off, gradually picking the goblins off and pursuing those that fled.

Gattamelata eyed the battlefield warily, as if expecting something. Some horses were obviously shot by arrows, shafts sticking into them, but arrows designed to kill humans were not so effective as taking out an animal as powerful as a horse.

"Many Darknuts had horses, where are they?" the contractor asked, then turned his head to look to the south-east, but did not see anything yet. "The second cohort better arrive soon."

Meanwhile, far behind the battle, the Bearers of Courage and Wisdom watched from a safe distance, the child Links especially interested, their eyes twinkling with curiosity. For the youngest brothers, what they beheld was a game, an event, something to look at.

"Borrrringggg." Crazy Zelda moaned while stretching with a big yawn.

"Shouldn't we be fighting in that battle?" Sunny asked.

"No," a mounted reiter replied, shaking his head, "we have strict orders to take you to the outpost in the mountains. It will be easier defending from the Darknuts at much greater heights." he continued.

"Hey, Francisco, Helmuth... take the nine horses with the wounded, take them to the army. We can't risk being spotted by Ganondorf's forces, and the wounded will have a better chance with army, go! Alright, the rest of you, let's get moving, we're not paid by the hour!" the other mounted reiter spoke, so two infantrymen left the scene with the nine horses carrying the wounded, heading to the army, while everyone else moved onward, following the three mounted reiters.

As the battle raged down below, the group headed for another hill, and after the hill was a downward slope, and after that a cliff to the left and a hill to the right, with a few groves of trees here and there. At this very spot, the Bearers of Wisdom and Courage had a strange feeling, as if this place was familiar. They felt that, long ago, something surprising and bad happened here, but what?


	31. Chapter 31 - Unyielding

**Chapter 31**

 **Unyielding**

As the Bearers of Courage and Wisdom walked with their escort, Lionheart and Sheik turned their heads, seeing the top of Hyrule Castle off in the horizon. It looked so gloomy without them. Suddenly, there was an explosion, causing Sheik and Lionheart to somewhat flinch, and everyone else to turn to the side and stare at the castle, where the blast came from. The top of the keep had just exploded for some reason, debris and tiles fluttering down all around.

"What the hell was that?" a dismounted reiter asked aloud.

"The castle exploded, duh." Crazy Zelda replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, and she then heard her older sisters and a few of the older Links and Linkle slightly gasp, and many of the people took a step back and looked ready to do something. Wondering what was up, Crazy Zelda looked at the direction everyone else was looking.

At the top of the hill, a large black stallion reared, facing the left, and mounted on this stallion was Ganondorf himself, Warlock Blade in hand, and wearing his great helm. The back of his right gauntlet had a golden aura of the Triforce. Everything seemed to be in slow-motion, and then twelve mounted Darknuts on horses slowly appeared from behind the hill, arranged in a horizontal line. The Darknut knights wore white plate armour for man and horse, the Darknuts wearing horned great helms, and their armour having black crosses. They were Ganondorf's bodyguard as already described during the siege of Hyrule Castle, and the bodyguards got into a gallop, couching their great lances and driving towards the Bearers and their escort.

"Watch out!" Linkle shouted, then looking side to side and wondering what to do, seeing Crazy Zelda pick up a rock and throw it forth, but it just hit the ground and did nothing remarkable.

Immediately, the mounted reiters galloped off to the sides, shooting their pistols, and the dismounted reiters and the arquebusiers aimed and fired their guns, the halberdiers—having no time to get into formation—gripped their halberds tightly, aiming them at the incoming Darknut knights. The bullets bounced off the Darknuts' and their destriers' armour, but did leave dents.

"Here they come." Raven commented nonchalantly.

The Bearers of Courage and Wisdom gripped their swords, and even though Pear and the child Zeldas did not know how to use swords, they would still fight like the devil if they had to, regardless of the odds.

The charging Darknut knights could not be stopped by the halberdiers; the Darknut destriers swerved their chests so that their horse armour knocked aside the halberds, then the Darknut drove his great lance into the halberdier, sending him to the earth. The arquebusiers and dismounted reiters skipped out of the way or were trampled; the reiters, wearing armour, were mostly unharmed but dazed. One halberdier swung his polearm sideways, striking the legs of a Darknut's horse and toppling it, the Darknut diving head-first and dropping lance and shield, and the halberdier was then struck by a lance and taken out. A few halberdiers managed to swing at the Darknuts' helmets, but failed to unhorse them, and were struck down.

Having broke through the infantry and lanced most of them dead, the eleven Darknut knights continued charging forth, Lionheart, Black Panther, Sheik, and the Twin Princesses ran forth ahead of the other Bearers, and swung their swords upwards to knock aside the couched lances aimed at them, then Sheik skipped out of the way, but her armoured sisters were trampled though mostly unhurt. The Darknuts' charge continued as the princesses dispersed, Pear losing her footing and falling over just as a lance whizzed over her head, and the child Zeldas got scared and dove to the ground to avoid being attacked, too small to be targeted easily, rolling around to evade the destriers' hooves.

"I HOPE YOU FALL DOWN AND DIE." Crazy Zelda squawked, upset at having to get dirty. She and the hapless sisters got up to regroup with their armoured sisters.

Having seen what the ladies did, Cougar, Linkle, the tanned Link, Redhead, Dreadlocks, Crazy Link, Raven, Snow, and Sunny followed suite, knocking aside the lances aiming for them, and then jumped out of the way of the warhorses.

Leo, who wielded a Darknut's sword and shield, raised his big shield which easily deflected a lance, then Leo jumped up and swung his Darknut ikakalaka across the incoming Darknut knight, hitting him clean in the helm, the impact causing the Darknut to lean backwards in his saddle, but he did not fall off.

Redhead, Linkle and Crazy Link, being so lithe and fit, jumped up while shouting and twirling in the air as the Darknuts passed them, swinging their blades midair and striking the Darknuts, though the attacks did not really do anything. Little Link was too short to do anything, the lances unable to reach him (the lances were very heavy, so aiming them down risked the lance jabbing into the earth and being stuck and so lost), Little Link swinging his sword in the air and achieving nothing. At least his smallness made him harder to strike.

"Ugh... that didn't work." Linkle remarked.

"Their armour is too strong." Little Link whined.

"As long as they're on horseback, we won't be able to fight them at all." Sheik warned, starting to feel nervous, and hearing the fallen reiters move around in their armour.

The Darknut knights soon realized they had passed their targets, and began slowing down to turn around and charge again. The dismounted reiters and some infantry picked themselves up, the Darknut unhorsed earlier getting up as well, but was immediately piled and received daggers rammed into the gaps of his armour, while his injured riderless horse got up and started biting and kicking its rear legs, its front legs too injured to allow running. This Darknut knight was overwhelmed by mass of numbers, unsheathing his arming sword and fighting back, but was nevertheless pushed off his feet, held down by a few reiters, and stabbed repeatedly in the gaps of his armour and into the eye slits of his helm.

"HURT HIM! HURT HIM!" Crazy Zelda screeched while jumping up and down, encouraging the infantry to stab the unhorsed Darknut with greater vigour.

Suddenly, there was an electrostatic discharge, the explosion of electricity hurling the dismounted reiters and infantry off their feet, the Bearers of Wisdom and Courage able to run a short distance and evade the magical attack; the riderless destrier limped away. Since the reiters wore armour, they were zapped strongly, but most of them got up once the zapping dissipated, unsheathing their falchions or sideswords and wondering what the hell just happened. Ganondorf galloped forth, hurling a handful of smaller spheres of electricity from his free hand at the reiters, zapping them just enough to prevent them from walking, then his horse trampled through them and the infantry, his armour and his stallion withstanding the reiters' swords, Ganondorf also swinging the Warlock Blade against a reiter's helm, leaving such a big dent that the blow caused the reiter to twirl and fall.

The two mounted reiters charged the King of Evil at either side, so Ganondorf threw another magical ball of electricity at the one to his left, impact sending the reiter flying off his horse, and as the reiter to his right charged in lunging his sidesword towards Ganondorf's steed, Ganondorf suddenly turned his stallion so that his steed ran into the reiter's horse at a slight angle, stallion's shoulder slamming the horse's neck just as Ganondorf parried the thrust aimed for his steed, and the reiter and his horse were smashed down by the ensuing collision. The riderless reiter's horse ran off.

The armoured princesses by this time had gotten up, Ganondorf turning his horse while galloping, conjuring another ball of electricity in his left hand and throwing it at the armoured princesses while charging them. Instinctively, most of the princesses skipped or ran away from the incoming magic, but Lionheart stepped forth, and swung her sword at the electric ball. Although the sword Lionheart wielded was typical and possessed no power, it caused the magical projectile to bounce back, though Ganondorf backhanded it with his free hand and struck it aside, hearing it explode against the ground.

Eager to face their eternal nemesis, all the brothers, Linkle, the armoured princesses, and Sheik approached Ganondorf as the King of Evil was within moments of getting up-close to them. The armoured princesses were the first to face Ganondorf, swinging their swords, but Ganondorf's stallion charged through the blades and the king struck Black Panther in the helm, and hard enough to make her fall. Sheik skipped away from the king's weapon, then spun around as the horse passed her. If only she had her bow and Light Arrows...

Leo raised his Darknut shield, blocking the Warlock Blade but did not have enough time to strike Ganondorf. Leo's brothers did what they could, but they could not stifle the charging stallion, even when their blades dragged across the stallion or struck his rider, Linkle parrying Ganondorf's blade. They could not stop the King of Evil's initial charge, and the eleven Darknut knights were already incoming. Most reiters (including the reiter whose horse was incapacitated down by Ganondorf's stallion) and a few infantry picked themselves up after Ganondorf passed everyone, readying themselves.

Ganondorf continued galloping, turning around in his saddle and shouting aloud, throwing a vast wave of electricity, which caught everyone by surprise.

"Look out!" the Twin Princesses both exclaimed at the same time for a change, watching as the wave of electricity spread further and amplified in power, a direct result of Ganondorf's ascension with the Triforce.

Leo hid behind his shield, and the other Bearers attacked the incoming mass of electricity to try and hit it back, but it just waved upon them regardless of their efforts, shocking them and taking them all down, the reiters and infantry also struck down once again.

Nevertheless, Linkle and her brothers were the first to get up, and they ran forth to meet the incoming Darknut knights, swinging their swords to knock aside their lances, Leo's Darknut shield blocking a lance, and then he swung his Darknut sword across the destrier's front legs, striking hard enough to topple the horse, and so hurled the Darknut down to the ground. Crazy Zelda ran in from nowhere and started hitting the unhorsed Darknut repeatedly in the helm while biting her tongue. Once the Darknut sat up, Crazy Zelda ran away cursing.

Leo confronted the unhorsed Darknut, who threw his lance at Leo, though he deflected it with his shield. The unhorsed Darknut unsheathed a large arming sword and he and Leo approached one another. Leo smirked and then charged, ramming his shield into the Darknut's shield, the two pushing against one another, the Darknut jabbing his sword around the shields to try and stab Leo, but being without armour Leo rolled his shoulders to prevent being stabbed. Leo then quickly slipped his shield underneath the Darknut's, feeling the Darknut's shield jerk forth overhead. Leo then tackled into the Darknut's greaves, and pushed his shoulders and shield upwards, lifting the Darknut until the Darknut flipped over him. Leo spun around and smashed his shield into the Darknut's helm repeatedly, before spinning around and swinging his shield to deflect the lance of a mounted Darknut. Leo then ran off to stand with his siblings.

"How's it going?" Leo asked, joining the fray.

"Their armour's too thick, I can't get a solid hit!" Dreadlocks shouted, parrying a Darknut's lance then skipping back to avoid the warhorse's bite, then the destrier rearing around and trying to jump upon the Ordonians, but they jumped out of the way; the destrier ran off.

As a Darknut charged her, Lionheart dropped her sword and picked up a halberd lying on the ground nearby a dead halberdier. She swung the halberd with such force she literally spun around on her feet and made two whole revolutions, the halberd smacking aside a lance then striking another Darknut in the helm and stunned him a bit, but then another Darknut struck Lionheart with his lance and she fell from the impact. Several reiters picked themselves up, ready to fight on.

Instead of charging yet again, the remaining ten mounted Darknuts slowed their horses down to a canter, then threw their lances as if giant javelins, the targeted Bearers jumping sideways to dodge them, but a few reiters were struck and staggered, but their breastplates withstood the thrown lances. Unsheathing arming swords, the Darknuts got their destriers to trot towards the Bearers, ready to close in and fight on horseback with sword and shield; their horses audibly panted, too tired to run any more.

"Look! Their destriers are tired from carrying so much weight." a reiter commented, then noticing he still had a pistol at his belt, so he withdrew it and waited a good moment to shoot it.

Ganondorf was about to charge again, but the Darknut knights were amongst the targets, now being in the way, so he pulled on the reins and reared his horse, eyeing the scene. He saw that the reiters and Bearers fought the Darknuts, swinging their swords repeatedly, the unarmoured Bearers skipping and jumping around to evade blows and constantly attacking, whilst the armoured princesses kept their ground to exchange blows, trying to overcome their mounted foes as the destriers constantly swerved their heads and walked side to side. The Darknut destriers sometimes would rear and bicycle their front legs to swipe their hooves, or would jump and kick with their back legs, while their riders constantly swung and lunged their swords to and fro.

Sometimes, Redhead, Crazy Link, Little Link and Snow managed to ran around hither and thither, dodging the Darknuts attacks and scurrying around them, and then would jump atop the destrier's rump or quickly climb up the horse's armour, stand on the warhorse's armoured rump, and start attacking the Darknut from behind!

"Relentless!" Redhead cried aloud, and once he finished attacking the back of a Darknut's helm, jumped off the horse to avoid another Darknut's blade, then continued the fight with his brothers.

Although their attacks did little other than irritate the Darknuts, who would lean backwards to push the pesky kids off, and the children's attempts did distract the Darknuts, allowing the others to continue their own attacks. However, Pear and the child Zeldas did not fight too much, keeping their distance, but not being too far away as to be targeted by Ganondorf, who looked for a means to throw his magic, but if he did so, he would hit his own bodyguards.

Leo found a good way to nullify the Darknuts' attacks: he would stick his shield out, pushing it into the side of the Darknut or his steed, preventing the Darknut from easily attacking around the shield, and then would start hacking at the destrier's legs. While doing so, the armoured destrier suddenly turned, pushing him back, but Leo raised his shield to block the incoming Darknut's sword. Leo skipped to the side and struck the destrier's legs again, until the pain was too much and the destrier knelt, the weight of the rider causing the warhorse to fall over. The Darknut lied with one leg under the horse, and Raven jumped atop the fallen Darknut, Raven ramming his sword into the eye slit of his helm, piercing the skull, and killed the Darknut.

Overall, the melee did not go well, with the Bearers and reiters unable to do much other than hit armour and dodge attacks, and the armoured princesses withstand blows that did hit them, and the exchange continued as blades scrape against steel. Lionheart managed to dive underneath one destrier as the rider fought the tanned Link and Cougar, and rammed her halberd up into its ribs, the pain causing the destrier to rear, so Lionheart pushed her halberd further into it until the destrier fell backwards over his rump, Little Link running out of the way with a squeak, and the rider falling onto the ground. Lionheart pulled the top spike out of the horse, turned the halberd around, then drive the fluke into the Darknut's helm as he picked himself up, but the fluke failed to penetrate the Darknut's thick helm.

"Damn, their armour's thick..." Lionheart mumbled to herself.

Thus far, nine Darknuts remained on horseback, two on foot, and only one defeated so far. Those on foot were harassed by repeat attacks, forcing them to hide behind their shields and then swing back when able, blades striking against blades. The Darknuts on foot sometimes tried to close in, swinging their shields and swords one after the other, push kicking, or bashing with their pauldron or helm, to try and overwhelm the Bearers, but the Darknuts were so heavily armoured that it was rather easy to skip backwards and avoid their attacks.

"Relentless!" Redhead shouted as he backflipped away from a Darknut's attack.

Lionheart frequently swung her halberd in the heads of the destriers, the blows hurting the warhorses, but unable to pierce the shaffron. She then hooked the fluke around a warhorse's leg, trying to trip it, but it was too strong. So, she hooked the fluke around a mounted Darknut's neck, trying to pull him off, but he was too heavy; the Darknut rolled his shoulders to slip out of the hook and continued fighting the Bearers.

Suddenly, the reiter with the pistol sheathed his sword and ran forth, jumping on the side of the Darknut and so standing on the Darknut's sabaton already through the stirrup, the reiter's right hand grasping the Darknut's right arm and pulling on it to cause the big guy to slightly lean sideways, and then the reiter rammed his pistol in the Darknut's right armpit and fired; the bullet broke through the mail and shot into the rib cage. The reiter hopped off, the Darknut scrunching up in his saddle.

"Come on!" Ganondorf shouted, "How much time and effort do you need to defeat a few brats?" he continued while leaning over the front of his saddle, irritated that this was taking so long, watching how the Bearers continued harassing the Darknuts like bees, constantly attacking them, the child Links sometimes jumping atop the destrier's rumps to attack the rider from behind, and Leo was able to fight both unhorsed Darknuts by himself, always blocking with his shield, and always attacking with his sword or parrying incoming blades.

"Relentless!" Redhead yelled yet again while raising his arms and gaze, breathing rapidly, then pointed at Ganondorf and gave him a mean look, but the King of Evil did not care. Redhead seemed to have gotten himself into a trance, and ecstatically fought like a tiny tornado. The kids sure had lots of energy.

Unable to bear his impatience, Ganondorf huffed and kicked his hips forth, his stallion going into a canter, and he decided he would just blast a massive amount of magic, which would obviously injure his own bodyguards, but he did not care too much. Ganondorf's Triforce beamed, and he conjured a swirling mass of electricity, even the sky thundering nearby, and lightning flashed. The magic in the king's hand amplified, looking like a swirling mass of crisscrossing lightning bolts constantly flicking wildly, and this magic grew until it was a few feet across, Ganondorf having to extend his arm to avoid being shocked by his own magic.

Out of nowhere, a rock flew and clinked against his helm, Ganondorf looking around for a second and wondering what happened; Crazy Zelda had thrown another rock at him, then disappeared into the grass and swam away in it.

The King of Evil stood up in his stirrups, feeling the magic in his hand shaking his arm and body, becoming so strong it began hurting him, and he was dying to slam it all down and smash into his eternal enemies. Just as Ganondorf was about to cast his magic, time slowed down, and at the corner of his eye, he saw something darting across the field towards him, looking like a ghostly golden beast of some sort.

The Bearers and reiters, few by few, also realized that Ganondorf was about to summon a massive surge of magical power, which blasted out streams of electricity here and there. Then, just as Ganondorf's arm started to throw the power, something jumped at the King of Evil, the creature snarling, opening his jaws, barring his teeth, lowering his ears, and growling as loud as thunder. In a mere twinkling, the golden beast tackled into Ganondorf with a loud metallic thud as flesh struck steel, and knocked the King of Evil clean off his horse.

The impact caused Ganondorf to drop his sword and inadvertently unleash his magic into the air, several masses of chaotic lightning blasting apart, causing thermal expansion that cracked so loudly and powerfully, that the ensuing sonic boom threw the stallion off his hooves, and temporarily deafened everyone.

Immediately, the beast, growling like a blazing furnace, rolled around with Ganondorf as the two wrestled, the beast pawing, clawing and biting, teeth then locking around the sides of the king's helm, and the beast shook his head side to side, dragging the heavily armoured king as he did so. The beast ferociously fought on like a maniac possessed by the devil, teeth clamping against steel.

Ganondorf sometimes pushed the damn snarling thing off himself, but it always dove back at him. The king then created a thermal expansion with his electric magic, blasting the beast away, and the two got up at the same time, Ganondorf picking up his sword, and now, he could take a better look at what the beast was. The beast was a huge wolf with golden fur that slightly glowed, the beast seven feet tall, possessing large paws, thick claws, long canine teeth, and having a long tail. The golden beast was missing his right eye, and his left eye had a red iris and a vertical scar. The wolf prowled sideways, slowly but steadily, lips parted, growling deeply, and always looking at the King of Evil, tail low, ears back, fur raised. Then, the beast exhaled once heavily, and calmed down, body relaxing from its tense state moments ago, and the wolf had a firm but stoic face, peaceful yet ready.

"I don't recognize that eye." Ganondorf commented, keeping eye contact with the golden wolf, "But I recognize that stare." he continued, placing the tip of his sword in the ground, and resting his hands above the pommel, and Ganondorf too, calmed down. He slowly and deeply chuckled. "It's been a long time, kid."


	32. Chapter 32 - An Old Friend

**Chapter 32**

 **An Old Friend**

As the battle farther into Hyrule Field continued, the golden beast pressed his paws into the ground, and strongly inhaled the scent of the earth. He suddenly tilted to the side, and reared on his hind legs, rolling his shoulders slowly while preforming an echoing howl, and transformed into a tall, partially armoured, ghostly, skeletal figure. The armour appeared to be bronze, consisting of a helm, upper two-thirds of a cuirass with the breastplate shaped like a bird's face, pauldrons, gauntlets, tassets at the hips worn over a skirt of mail reaching the knees, and metal boots. A small standard hung from the front of the skirt of mail.

The apparition's helm was like an open-faced heaume or barbuta, revealing the figure's skeletal visage, the bottom rim sitting atop the breastplate. The opening in the helm revealed that the right eye socket was empty, but left bearing a glowing red iris, the figure's teeth also visible on his skeletal visage, the figure's skull looked frightening. The front of the top of the helm had a partial red emblem. The helm once had three metal horns, two protruding from the sides and one at the top, which slightly curved forwards at the tips, but the top and left horn were broken-off halfway.

Batches of moss and twigs grew here and there over the armour and scabbard. Where the armour did not cover, translucent blueness in the shape of a body was present, of a man who was immensely tall and with lean musculature.

The shield was slightly domed, and the front bearing a symbol. The sword had a broad ricasso, somewhat like a federschwert, but then having a large, long blade with a triangular tip. The sword had a rather short cross-guard contrary to the length of the blade. How his equipment appeared after the lycanthropic transformation was a mystery. The lumbering apparition just stood there, slowly breathing audibly, his breath sounding like hollow wind. He looked like death.

"At last... the time is now." the deathly figure whispered to himself.

"What the hell is that?" a halberdier asked aloud, for many of the combatants nearby had noticed the beast's transformation, and so the infantrymen, reiters, Links and Linkle, Zeldas, Bulblins and Darknuts kept their distance. Wind came, blowing some dust across the scene, and causing grass and shrubs to rustle. Ganondorf turned his helm, and looked at the halberdier who asked the question.

"An old friend." Ganondorf replied.

Ganondorf hated those blue eyes he first saw so long ago, and wished he had thrown more power at that kid. If only he had killed that blue-eyed kid the first time... However, now that one eye was missing, and the other red, his opponent felt more familiar, and quite similar to his own forces. Even though this ghastly apparition was not the purest form of his ancient rival, Ganondorf did not mind another battle with him, one way or another, even if the destruction of Hyrule Castle had to wait. The descendants stared at the apparition with some doubt and confusion, unsure if he was friend or foe. Most things skeletal and ghostly were bad guys, right?

"We need to get the hell out of here, let's go!" one of the reiters whispered cautiously, the few remaining soldiers having regrouped with the Descendants of Courage and Wisdom, ready to lead them out the battlefield. Since Ganondorf wore a great helm, his visibility, hearing, and neck movement were rather limited, and so the best time to sneak away before his helm came off.

"We can still fight!" Leo barked, raising his Darknut sword and shield. Several Darknuts trotted forth towards their king, lances and shields raised. Ganondorf and his bodyguard of Darknuts did not look like an easy fight. Indeed, it had required the combined effort of every Descendant to unhorse two Darknut bodyguards and kill one, which they only accomplished after a melee amidst the battle of human against Bulblin, horse against boar, bows against pistols, clubs against swords.

"This battle cannot be won, there are too many goblins! They will soon swarm us! Gattamelata ordered us to keep you alive, and we will do just that. We must all fall back, and live to fight another day." another reiter assured, but none of the Links or Linkle wanted to do that, even as dozens upon dozens of mailed Bulblins scuddled towards the scene.

"Actually, I think getting out of here would be a good idea!" Pear squeaked, Goldilocks, Blackeyes and Little Link also looking like they just wanted to leave.

"Don't be such a fat baby, we can take them!" Lionheart stated eagerly, the Twin Sisters shuffling in their armour to signal they were able and ready.

"Damn right we can." Cougar agreed, Dreadlocks and Leo nodding, Sunny smiling causally and eager as usual, Raven patient and calculating.

"Relentless!" Redhead squawked randomly, Crazy Zelda chasing Crazy Link in the grass for some reason.

Looking back at his descendants, the apparition felt a rush of compassion, but also felt sadness that they would never be able to read his facial expression, never be able to truly experience how much love he had for the family he never had. It was as surprising as it was pleasing... to see that this time, there were so many brothers and sisters. But now, there was no time to talk, no time for a family reunion, no time to love, no time to enjoy the abundance of family, no time to cry. Now was the time to persevere, if this cycle had any chance to triumph against evil.

Ever since he trained the previous hero who defeated the evil from the twilight, he thought he would be able to sleep forever. Now that he had returned from his slumber yet again, this time it was way different. He sensed that Ganondorf was much more powerful than ever, but regardless, the king did not yet defeat the Descendants of Courage, nor did he possess the Descendants of Wisdom, nor did he conquer the entirety of Hyrule. This time, Ganondorf made quick progress and action, but failed to deal with the chosen heroes regardless of his quick success. Ganondorf chuckled deeply and slowly, as if reading the apparition's mind, so the apparition looked back at his mortal enemy. The apparition walked into view, clearly expressing his defiance to the king's predatory instinct.

"Is he... protecting us?" Vampire chirped, finding it so unusual for such a frightening monster to be standing in the way of the King of Evil. Indeed, even the Bulblins didn't want to be anywhere near the armoured skeletal ghost, and they still kept their distance, and rightfully so.

"I guess so." Linkle remarked, not knowing who this ghostly guy was, and not really caring. She never relied on anyone to protect her family. She raised her brothers as if they were her own children, and never needed any help, not even from mother and father... two people she never knew personally.

Overhearing what the girls had commented, the apparition turned his head, looking at his descendants: Linkle, and her brothers Leo, Raven, Sunny, Dreadlocks, Cougar, the tanned brother, Snow, Redhead, Crazy Link, and Little Link. With them, the descendants of Princess Zelda: Sheik, Pear, Lionheart, the Twin Sisters, Black Panther, Goldilocks, Blackeyes, Vampire, and Crazy Zelda.

"None of you can fight this day and expect to win. You must flee, so that you may live to fight another day. There is no shame in retreat, that in itself is a strategy. You all must persist on the difficult path of the hero to obtain true courage, and earn the strength to conquer the greater evils of the world!" the apparition spoke. He then struck his sword against his shield once, making a single loud ring, and turned to look back at Ganondorf, the nine mounted Darknuts, two unhorsed Darknuts, and the horde of incoming Bulblins. "Go, and do not falter, my children!" the apparition shouted.

Upon hearing what the apparition had just said, Linkle did not know why, but thoughts of her father came into her mind. She did not remember him much, but faint memories of him came to her. He was a righteous, hardworking, energetic man, and... there was so much more, but what? Then, life seemed to become a dream, where time flowed slowly, everything radiated with blurriness, just passive sereneness. These old memories that felt like dreams flooded Linkle's mind, showing her as a child wearing a green dress, sitting in the grass during a sunny evening, gently waving her arms across flowers, big blue eyes absorbed in wonder. Everything was so bright, so lovely, just slowly peaceful.

Mother sat loosely cross-legged on the side of a hill, overlooking Linkle playing, a baby boy in the mother's arms, and two toddlers resting against both her thighs, one with pitch-black skin, everyone exhausted from the day's activities. Mother's belly was so round, growing Linkle's next brother. Back then, Leo did not need any excuse to sleep all the time, and Raven was trying to stay awake, but just couldn't, his black skin shimmering in the sunlight, warmth of the sun and mother's skin too much to bear.

Linkle thought she heard father talking to someone, so she turned her head to look across the hill, but father was too far away to be seen clearly. Father wore a hauberk, chausses, coif, and mail mittens, so that almost his entire body was protected by mail. Slung over the shoulder was a kite shield, and arming sword and dagger sheathed at his sides. Perhaps forty soldiers stood before him, listening to what he had to say.

All of Linkle's daydream came to a sudden end when someone smacked her across the back of the head. It was not a hard hit, but it still hurt, enough for her to hold the back of her head and angrily look to the side.

"Snap out of it! What are you doing lost in memories? Get yourself together!" an armoured soldier shouted, and to Linkle's surprise, this soldier was a woman. She looked around, and it seemed several armoured foot soldiers ran here on foot, probably sent as reinforcements or coming from a different detachment, they armed with two-handed swords. The woman who slapped Linkle shuffled in her armour, then leaned her great sword over her spaulder. A few of the other heavy infantry already stepped forth and met with the goblins, swinging their mighty blades around and around to keep the Bulblins at bay.

"We need to move, now!" one of the unhorsed reiters shouted, gesturing with his arm as Linkle's brothers and the princesses began to be escorted away from the fighting. However, the battle was expanding, and it seemed that everyone would soon be surrounded.

Looking forwards again, Linkle saw the armoured skeletal apparition approach the king coolly. The wind intensified, waving Ganondorf's cape as the apparition walked towards his ancient rival. Ganondorf's gauntlet surged with electricity, but the ancient hero did not care; even with flesh and blood, electricity never stopped him since childhood. Then, in a moment of something, perhaps hesitation, perhaps respect, the apparition stopped, and Ganondorf dissipated his magic. The two rivals eyed one another motionlessly.

"You have already failed." Ganondorf assured, raising his right hand off the hilt of his sword, showing the back of it, where the Triforce beamed through the metal. The ancient hero remained as unflinching as he was in life, neither behemoth caring about the fighting starting to escalate around them.

"I was meant to protect it from you, but now that you rule over the Triforce... I will fight against it as much as you." the ancient hero finally spoke, with a voice much deeper than he had in life. The king put his right hand back down atop the hilt, but the emanating Triforce still glinted against his helm, arm harnesses, pauldrons and breastplate.

 _So, he can speak..._ Ganondorf thought to himself, and how the apparition said he would fight against the Triforce made the king grin beneath his helm. At least that was one thing Ganondorf could respect of the ancient hero. Unlike the Master Sword, depending on who owned the Triforce, meant the difference between villain and hero, after all.

"These toys were always too much for you. But this time, I did not demand anything, I simply took what I pleased." Ganondorf remarked, tilting his right hand side to side, and so the Triforce's beam swayed across his helm.

"Like a thief." the apparition reminded. Ganondorf chuckled deeply and slowly, as he usually did.

"As the King of Thieves." Ganondorf corrected, taking one last look at the Triforce beaming out his gauntlet, then he stared back at the apparition.

"I beat you and your magic before, and now that I am stronger than ever, no matter how much power you have, there will be no difference. Not to mention that despite your supposed godhood, your previous defeat was not impressive." the apparition said.

"You did beat my magic all those years ago, I'll give you that. You yourself still have the remnants of magic in you, so I cannot only rely on my own magic to kill you. So be it. But you've never fought me while I had a blade. With this sword I now have, the Sword of the Six Sages reforged into a truly formidable weapon... it is now the Warlock Blade. Everything you have taught the Hero of Twilight, and everything you have mastered, is now obsolete against me. Today, I will finish what I started so long ago. Today, this will be the end of you, Link... for all time."


	33. Chapter 33 - Rising

**Chapter 33**

 **Rising**

Knowing that it was most honourable not to interfere with their king's duel, the Darknuts let he and his foe alone, one of the Darknuts huffing and gesturing the Darknuts to go. The Darknuts turned around, overhearing the galloping and marching of human reinforcements from afar, and so the mounted Darknuts couchedtheir lances and approached the incoming enemy forces, which seemed to be mowing through the Bulblins from behind.

Lances couched firmly, the mounted Darknuts kicked their hips forth and got their horses into a gallop. Charging into the fray, the Darknuts struck down targeted reiters in a single blow, all the weight of their bodies and equipment transferred into their lances upon impact. The impact of couchedlances was of such force, that the lances left large circular dents in the reiters' breastplates, and threw them off their horses instantly. Immediately afterwards, the Darknuts' destrier inevitably ran into the reiters' horses, often into the shoulder or neck at an angle, and tackled the horses down as well. Once more reiters swarmed the Darknuts, the Darknuts threw away their lances, withdrew their crescent-tipped blades, and swung them with great vigour in all directions.

Meanwhile, once the King of Evil and the hero got within sword's reach, ready to fight, they suddenlypaused. Neither took their eyes off one another, even as more and more reiters engaged with boar-riding Bulblins and the Darknuts. After a second, the two ancient rivals raised their swords into one another, so that the middle of both blades clinked against one another. Swords then pulled back calmly, the duel (many generations in the making) would soon begin.

The hero thought he heard some faint whispering flowing out the king's sword, as if feeling an unknown presence hidden within it. Undoubtedly, this reforged Sword of the Six Sages, which Ganondorf now called the Warlock Blade, was a weapon imbued with a malevolent, albeit quiet, force of some kind. The blade was bright and silvery, the entirety of the Sword of the Six Sages having been reforged into just a regular blade, but other than having a standard longsword hilt added, it did not look remarkable. It did not have decorations or anything that lookws impressive, and it actually looked so ordinary, that no one would guess it was such a foul blade.

The hero looked at the back of his left hand, but this time, the Triforce of Courage did not shine, and the King of Evil made the first move. The hero immediately lifted his chin with a slight gasp, raising sword and shield, expecting Ganondorf to unleash a magical purple vortex, but that did not happen. Instead, Ganondorf raised his sword, grasping it two-handed and swinging it down overhead powerfully, convinced that the walking bones would be unable to withstand his attack, even with a metal shield! Or so he expected.

The hero jumped forth, with much more distance and speed than Ganondorf anticipated, blocking the king's sword midair with his shield. While landing, the hero slammed his sword into the king's horned great helm, and with such force, Ganondorf felt his head whip backwards, and he staggered, lost balance, and fell down clumsily. Undoubtedly, the hero was much, much stronger than Ganondorf remembered. Ganondorf also did not expect the hero to be so aggressive and quick.

"Well then, we won't be keeping our distance this time..." the (not yet) Great King of Evil mumbled under his breath.

Without hesitation, the hero jumped again, pointing his sword down midair, shield-wielding hand placed over the hilt of his sword, and he drove it into the king's breastplate as he landed atop him, ready to pierce his armour clean through! Unfortunately, instead, the tip of his sword simply slid off the side of the cuirass and stabbed into the ground, leaving a scratch on the armour and nothing more.

 _So, even his armour had been upgraded..._ the hero thought to himself. Ganondorf seemed to read his mind, and briefly chuckled.

After the hero's failure to pierce armour, Ganondorf took the advantage, and summoned his magic as a thunderclap, blasting the hero off himself. Flying backwards midair,the hero landed on his fists, and as if doing a handspring, was back on his feet with the grace of a cat. Ganondorf picked himself up, thinking if maybe he could lose this duel. The king raised his sword, holding it in both hands, and then pulled it back, ready to swing a mighty blow.

Both behemoths looked to the side at the same time, for a reiter suddenly charged the king, twirling a war hammer, so Ganondorf spun to the side, swinging his blade across the charging reiter's helm, and knocked him clean off his horse as it ran passed him. Three more reiters who had bypassed the battle were incoming from the other side, so Ganondorf raised his left hand, summoning and then rotating an electrifying mass of magic, and throwing it as it were a giant boomerang. The magic flowed across the three reiters and their horses, electrocuting them to the ground.

The first reiter the king had knocked down began to regain himself, but before he could get up, Ganondorf kicked the reiter across the helm, metal boot thudding against helm and denting it, knocking the reiter out. Now, the king could focus on the hero, who had been approaching him.

The ancient hero rushed forth, raising his shield and blocking the king's incoming two-handed strike, but it was a mighty blow, causing the hero's shield to bounce back and hit his own helm, and his ghostly bones shook within his buckling armour. Nevertheless, the hero painfully regained himself, and managed to swing his sword across the king's helm, the strike briefly stunning the king. Not waiting, the hero punched the rim of his shield into Ganondorf's helm, the heavy smash staggering the king, who grunted from the blow.

"Normally, I would have kicked that out of the way." Ganondorf mumbled to himself, referring to the shield.

Ganondorf retaliated by ramming his pauldron and helm at the same time into the hero, helm thudding against helm, pauldron against shield, and then the king punched the hero in the face, gauntlets cracking against teeth and skull, staggering him. The king delivered another powerful overhand swing, though the hero quickly swung his own sword upwards, striking the incoming blade aside. In this instance, the King of Evil immediately opened his left hand and backhanded the hero's thrust, and then the king summoned electric power, and slammed his palm into the hero's helm, unleashing the power directly into it.

The magic surged throughout the hero's armour and body, and he groaned aloud in pain, legs stiffening. The king gripped his sword in both hands by the blade, and swung thepommel into the electrocuted hero, smashing it against his helm, the impact causing the hero's knees to bend.

Ganondorf pulled his sword back, about to swing it again. But then, the hero sprang forth as the electric magic finished punishing him, pushing his shoulder into his shield, and pushing the hilt of his sword into the inside of his shield, and so drove his shield with great force towards the king. The king's hilt simply struck the shield upon finishing its swing, but the hero's shield nevertheless smashed into Ganondorf's midsection, essentially tackling with his shield. Ganondorf bent over the shield due to the impact, and then the hero, with a loud shout, lifted the evil king and flipped him over.

Large armoured body thumping heavily against the ground, Ganondorf was briefly dazed, feeling blood rushing through the veins in his forehead. The hero raised his shield and slammed it against the king's helm, and with such vigour, the hero's feet slid back along the ground and he ended up in a kneeling position. He raised his shield again, and again he smashed it upon the King of Evil's helm, and then Ganondorf lifted both arms and unleashed a thunderclap of his power, which hurled the hero back off his feet. Both armoured titans picked themselves up at the same time, eyed one another through their helms for a second, and approached each other, again.

"You will have to try harder than that." the hero commented, the battle of man and Bulblin behind them raging on.

"I was about to say the same thing." Ganondorf remarked, not actually caring about the battle.

This time, it was the hero's turn to do the first move. He performed a sudden backhand cut with his sword, but at the same time spun counterclockwise on his heels with the agility of a cat, and the king blocked the cut, but as the hero's spin continued nonetheless and finished its revolution, he used the momentum to bash his shield across Ganondorf's helm strongly, impact kicking the king back. Taking the advantage, the hero leaned forward on his right leg, unleashing a frenzied series of rapid overhand chops, staggering Ganondorf further who had yet to recover from the shield smash moments ago. A solid headbutt—helm cracking against helm—finally took the king off his feet.

"Ohhff!" Ganondorf exclaimed as he landed against the ground.

The hero then focused for a moment, because two boars thundered their way towards him, behind them a fierce melee of Bulblin against man, horse against boar, Darknut against reiter. The two archers on either incoming boar shot arrows, both of which harmlessly bounced off the hero's shield, and both boars ran passed either side of Ganondorf as he picked himself up.

Sword pointing upwards but gripped in both hands, the hero jumped just as the two boars were in the instance of trampling him, swinging his sword midair from the left, beading both Bulblins boar-riders as they rode passed him, and while still midair, realigned his sword so that the blade pointed back over the right shoulder, and swung it in a backhand, and beheaded both riders of the other boar as it ran passed him. Raising his sword vertically before landing, the hero finished his leaping attack with an overhandblow, which Ganondorf blocked, both blades binding into one another.

"That was pretty cool, at least I'll give you that." the king complimented, both gauntlets slightly shaking as he pushed against his hilt with all his might. Even though the hero gripped his sword with just one hand, Ganondorf could not overpower him. Indeed, true Courage never dies.

"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage!" the hero almost shouted, and as he pushed his sword forth, he slowly began to overpower the king.

Ganondorf quickly raised his hilt while slightly pulling his sword back, so that the aggressive hero's blade slid down from wrath, and the king immediately held his sword so that the tip pointed backwards, and then repeatedly bashed the pommel of his sword as if it were a mighty piston, consistently smashing against the hero's skeletal face where the helm did not cover.

The heavy impacts would have normally fractured the face, and broke several teeth and sent them flying down his throat, however, the hero was quite a robust fellow, teeth and skull aching, but nevertheless as solid as a stone wall (something that did not change since his youthful days). He raised his shield to protect himself, a stalwart habit he developed from childhood, but Ganondorf grabbed the top of the shield with his left hand, pushing it down while leaning over it, and swung his sword into the hero's helm while using momentum and mass. The strike was so heavy that it caused Ganondorf's blade to wobble and ring, but it also knocked the hero flat onto his back.

Ganondorf took this safe moment to quickly looked around, knowing that it was unwise to focus on one person amidst an occupied battlefield. Sure enough, a reiter had galloped passed him, at the same time hitting the king across the back of the helm with a war hammer. The reiter darted off to continue fighting the Bulblins.

"I'll find you..." Ganondorf grumbled.

The melee was beginning to swarm closer to the duel, but Ganondorf did not care, and looked back at his ancient adversary. The hero struggled to pick himself up, feeling the strain of combat, something his form could not handle as well as it used to, especially after two great undead slumbers and now that Ganondorf possessed the Triforce.

"What's wrong, old man? Can't do much fighting anymore, can you?" Ganondorf asked. "Oh wait, that's right, you need a useless fairy who can't help you anyways! You've always had a knack for finding useless friends, hunh?" he jeered.

"Navi..." the hero whispered tohimself. At times, she was annoying, but now that she was gone, he felt a rush of longing and loneliness. Navi left him at the end of his first adventure, but at least... at least she always tried to behelpful, and like Link, remained fearless throughout thick and thin. He remembered when he first saw her after she woke him up. Could Hyrule's destiny really depend on such a lazy boy? She was a beloved friend, and he would never forget her. The hero picked himself up, and raised his sword and shield, again ready to continue fighting.

"Think fast!" Ganondorf quickly shouted, and threw a spherical mass of electric magic, something the hero would have remembered.

The ball of zapping yellow power flew directly at him, so he slashed at it, and it bounced back at its caster. Ganondorf backhanded it, and it flew back, so the hero slashed at it, and the magic flew back at the king, who struck it with his sword. The two struck the magic back and forth, each consecutive strike causing it to fly a little faster, neither fighter willing to sidestep out of the way, just for old time's sake.

Soon, the magical ball was whizzing back and forth so quickly, that the hero and Ganondorf had to constantly swing at the air to keep up. Eager to outdo one another, Ganondorf and the hero took steps forwards while batting the magical projectile to and fro. Once they were no more than several feet from each other, the magic moved faster than either man could swing his sword, and it struck the hero in the face. The hero flew back with a shout, thudding onto his back, armour zapping wildly for a few seconds.

Ganondorf had expected the magic to bounce back to him, and he continued swinging at the air a few times before realizing the hero was already hit. The hero sat up, shaking his head, then got back up. The King of Evil walked forth, Warlock Blade grasped two-handed, and he grunted aloud, making a mighty swing. Extending his shield, the hero blocked the attack, then managed to chop across the king's helm.

Quick to react, Ganondorf push kicked the shield, and at the same time swung at the hero's head, but the hero lowered behind his kicked shield and bashed it into the king's front. Taking the up-close situation to his advantage, the hero waited for Ganondorf to swing again. Once the king swung again, the hero suddenly jumped diagonally to the side, and upon landing he rolled across his shoulders to go around Ganondorf, and then the hero suddenly sprang upwards with great force and speed, twirling into the air while extending his arm, so that for every revolution he made, his sword struck the king.

The hero's midair spinning attacks had great rotational force, which caused Ganondorf to totter as he tried to restabilize his footing. The king regained himself and spun around while swinging his sword in both hands, but this was timely blocked by the hero's shield upon landing. Ganondorf pulled his sword back and raised it for another hefty blow, so the hero instinctively raised his shield, but then Ganondorf immediately swung his sword down very lowly, and sent a powerful hack into the hero's knee.

The impact felt cracking hot, and caused enough pain to prevent the hero from walking, he raising his foot slightly and leaning, and the king took the advantage and leapt upon the hero. The weight of Ganondorf and his armour—and the hero's own armour—was too much for his injured knee to bear, and the hero collapsed like a felled tree. Ganondorf mounted the hero, pushing his free hand against the hero's shield and holding it against the ground, and then began headbutting the hero repeatedly.

While receiving the smashing punishment of the king's helm, the Hero clubbed the bottom of his sword hilt repeatedly against the king's helm, as there was little he could do to defend himself. But then, he remembered something, a secret technique he had not taught the Hero of Twilight. Rolling out to either side, two images of the hero appeared, as if duplicated ghosts.

"HUNH!?" Ganondorf exclaimed once he noticed something amiss, caught by surprise, for he had never seen the Hero of Time or the Hero of Twilight preform such magic, perhaps something the hero mimicked from the Forest Temple ages back. The two ghosts stood up and began chopping their swords at the king, who instinctively raised his sword to protect himself.

Ganondorf was obviously distracted by the duplicated entities, and the hero took the opportunity to let go of his shield and sword, and then quickly wrapped his arms around the king's armour. Pulling on Ganondorf while rolling backwards, the hero rolled over his own shoulders while still clutching Ganondorf, and all of a sudden, the positioning flipped over! Now that the hero was mounted atop the king, it was the hero's turn to do some damage, and started headbutting Ganondorf, helm smacking against helm. It seemed that the hero had a harder head than Ganondorf, because the hero could still headbutt after receiving so many headbutts seconds go!

To protect himself, the king raised his sword sideways over his face, to put the blade in the way. So, the hero grabbed the blade of the Warlock Blade with both hands, and began bashing it into Ganondorf's helm. It sure would have been more convenient if he had a dagger, which he could have stabbed into the gaps of armour.

While the hero's two duplicated selves stood idle, shields and swords raised, Ganondorf focused, and his hands began glowing darkly. Within a few seconds of struggling against the hero's grip and strength, Ganondorf's hands—although still gripping his sword—created a growing sphere of bright, spinning energy, the rim fluctuating with electricity. The magic made a high-pitched noise that sounded like vibrating running water with a windy effect. Multiple sparky spheres and then bright rays and zaps appeared above Ganondorf, flowing into the power between his hands. The magic quickly grew much larger than the king himself. The hero definitely remembered this magic spell once it enveloped he and his foe, but never had to deal with it at point-blank range!

The large bright orb soon flowed over Ganondorf as well as the hero, electrifying the hero but he refused to let go. Ganondorf seemed to be immune to the electric magic, lucky bastard. Unable to think straight while being shocked, the hero did not have enough time to react, as the orb shrunk, as if disappearing within the king's gauntlets.

"UuhhhHHH-YYEEAAAGGHH!" the king screamed, causing the magic to erupt in all directions, the power sounding like a condensed thunderstorm, and was more than enough to hurl the hero and his two duplicated selves several feet away.

Crashing against the ground with a grunt, the hero's duplicate selves quickly vanished, and Ganondorf raised his arms to cast more magic. Taking the initiative, the hero got up and rolled forth, then leapt. While midair, the hero swung his sword vertically, and with such power he actually flipped in the air, at the same time slashing his sword through Ganondorf's magic and into his helm. The strike caused Ganondorf to tilt, and his magic seemed to have stifled but it remained amassing above him, so he turned around while swinging his sword, which struck the hero's shield, and then the two stepped away from each other as a big boar trampled through in-between them, chased by a few reiters, who in turn were chased by a mounted Darknut. One reiter fired a pistol at the Darknut, but the bullet bounced off the Darknut's pauldron.

Once the riders and their mounts were out of the way, leaving behind swirling dust, Ganondorf looked side to side quickly to find the hero, whose sword began glowing yellow at the tip. The hero swung his sword, casting a magical mass of sparks affixed together. This took Ganondorf completely by surprise, who had never witnessed the Hero of Time cast such a magical projectile.

A bit slow to react, Ganondorf failed to parry the magic, and it struck his helm, and it was the king's turn to fall flat on his back. The magic he had amassed lost control, and burst apart, raining in the area and blackening the earth here and there. Ganondorf sat up, shaking his head a little, overhearing the hero heartily laughing aloud at him.

"I waited a long time for that!" the hero bellowed; Ganondorf growled as he picked himself up. "What? You look better in the dirt."

"Don't worry, I will repay another old favour, and drive my blade through your skull." Ganondorf threatened angrily.

"Now then, come at me!" the hero eagerly said while hitting his sword against his shield, starting to enjoy this!

Without thinking, Ganondorf hurled another ball of electricity at the hero, who in turn cast another ball of sparks, both magical projectiles slamming into each other and creating an explosive reaction that hurled sparks and zaps everywhere. Charging through the dancing sparks, the hero raised his shield and sword, Ganondorf charging as well. The heavily-armoured behemoths crashed into each other, shield smashing into pauldron, both rivals nearly twirling on their feet from the impact and causing their boots to scrape deeply into the earth.

Angry that this duel went on muchlonger than he expected, Ganondorf repeatedly delivered furious blows, sword hammering against shield, gradually chewing away at the edge. No matter how hard or how many times he struck, the hero's shield remained firm. To encourage recklessness, the hero kept his distance, moving his shield forwards and backwards, and sometimes kneeling behind his shield, and not once did his shield fail.

Overhearing Ganondorf panting, the hero decided to take advantage of the king's overexertion, and the hero delivered his own furious series of attacks, attacking the king's own sword and helm. Blow after blow, sparks danced, dents appeared on the king's helm, with Ganondorf too tired to react effectively, for the hero always swung his sword into the king's own, rendering him helpless.

The hero heard a boar trampling towards his side, one Bulblin shooting an arrow and the other brandishing a spiked club. The arrow simply hit the ground, as Bulblins were not known for their accuracy. Once the boar came within distance, the hero swung into the beast's front legs which hacked them open, and the boar instantly fell into the ground, hurling both its riders off.

Once the hero looked back at Ganondorf, he was surprised to find that the king summoned another huge concentration of swirling magic, just like last time. The immense magic attracted masses of electricity, which zigzagged into it, and once it all faded away, Ganondorf roared, and unleashed his power. Electricity and magic blasted at the hero at such close range, and he instantly felt the heat of it.

Then, Ganondorf felt fire, seeing twirling flames dancing in the air. At first, his reaction was disbelief, but then it became clear. No matter how much magic, electricity and power he had, it could not overcome the Great Spin, even when preformed by a blade that was not the Master Sword.

Roaring a guttural, furious war cry, the hero overpowered Ganondorf's magic, sending it flying right back at his direction, but a few portions waved into some Bulblins. The hero's counterattack did not stop there, and his Great Spin grew, engulfing the king in a whirlwind of fiery power, magic, and cuts. Ganondorf felt repeat rotational blows into the helm, pauldrons and his blade, unable to retaliate from such activity. The hero finished his last revolution by swinging his shield into the king's helm, staggering him, then the hero push kicking the king off his feet.

Exhausted from his overexertion, the hero fell onto one knee and let his shield drop, panting heavily. Even his ghostly bones ached. Looking up, he saw Ganondorf sit up, the king's sword on the ground nearby. Ganondorf then knelt on one knee, panting heavily as well. The two just stared at each other, both knowing that this was far from over, and probably would never be over.

Even as the battle raged all around the two behemoths, neither cared, and no one was brave enough to get in their way. Keeping to his duties, the hero grasped his shield, gripped his nicked sword, and got up.

"Hmm, hm, hm, hm, hmm..." Ganondorf chuckled slowly without parting his lips. The king then raised his right forearm upward, and turned it around so that the back faced forwards, and the Triforce shone brightly.

"It will take more than the Triforce to stop me." the hero stoically said as he approached the king.

"You've got guts, kid. I like your attitude." Ganondorf commented.


End file.
